Lynne is first guest painter at new gallery
Work by Lynne Arnison will be the first by a guest artist to go on show at the Dorothy Rowan Gallery in Eastborough, Scarborough. The building, a former cafe, was bought by painter Stuart Hirst more than a year ago and has been transformed in the gallery which is named after his mother.
The Bradford-born artist was looking to move from his former home in Skipton and a friend recommended he buy the property in Eastborough.
It now houses his magnificent urbanscapes and from Saturday December 3 until the end of the month will be home to Lynne’s work.
Lynne and her husband Dave were walking towards the seafront in June when a painting in the gallery window caught her eye and she went in. She and Stuart got chatting and he invited her to stage an exhibition.
"It has been a task working full time and getting the show together,” said Lynne, who works at the JobCentre in the town.
She has created four new paintings in oils for the exhibition. All take an old family photograph as the starting point and have inspired Scarboroughset paintings.
The one called A Pint of Mixed Love features a reimagined old-fashioned landlady in what was the Silver Grid in Huntriss Row – now the empty Pizza Hut building.
For Sun-day Worship, Lynne painted a picture of a relative sat in a deckchair and planted him in front of the Bethel Mission Chapel in South Bay, which is also the setting for Sleeping For Sure (Foreshore) and the Three Graces.
"They were painted especially for the exhibition,” said Lynne. “I have not really painted Scarborough before. I didn’t want to paint Scarborough the way that everybody paints it but wanted to interpret it in my way.
"I decided my way is using Scarborough but to use it in a historical context and bring some social documentary to it,” she said.
Lynne was born and brought up in Morley near Leeds and the town has inspired her work. She has created work around David Atkinson’s photographs of Morley in the 1950s and 60s.
Also part of the exhibition Wish You Were Here cards – these are 10 double-sided illustrations and words done on classic Bamforth seaside postcards.
Lynne will also put on display a collection of monoprints created on the theme of isolation during the first pandemic lockdown, oil paintings of Leeds market and paintings Lynne created from a residency at Burton Agnes Hall, near Bridlington.
"There is a large body of work in the exhibition,” said Lynne, “There will be lots to see. Some of it is surreal and some of it is social documentary about Morley and Scarborough.”
Lynne, who lives in Ramshill with her photographer husband Dave, is also chairwoman of Shop@SJT – which sells handmade gifts and art from the foyer shop at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough .
Her work goes on show at the Dorothy Rowan Gallery from Saturday December 3 to Saturday December 31. Entry to the gallery is free.