Two Harrogate galleries have collaborated to launch a new exhibition.

Watermark Gallery will partner with Walker Galleries, which closed its doors on Montpellier Parade in December last year to move its operations online.

The two businesses have launched a new exhibition, A Brush With Colour, which opened on Saturday and will run until May 31.

Liz Hawkes, owner of Watermark Gallery, said she felt her business could learn from working with Walker Galleries.

She said:

“When we heard that Walker Galleries was closing, we were very disappointed to lose a quality gallery across the road. 

“Through our sister business, Artworks Conservation, we have worked with Ian and Shirley Walker for many years and have a mutual respect for the gallery business they built up. 

“We felt we had a lot to learn by joining forces and are only too pleased to be working with them on this exciting new programme of work.”

Lilies and Lemons – one of the exhibits by Caroline Bailey

Ian Walker, owner of Walker Galleries, said:

“We were delighted when Liz approached us with the offer of a venue so we could continue exhibiting the work of our artists.

“This current show with Caroline Bailey now promises to be even bigger and better than ever before as it combines our established way of working with the online and digital marketing focus of Watermark Gallery.”

Read more:

• Walker Galleries in Harrogate moves online
• Garden centre near Harrogate to reopen after eight years

A Brush With Colour is a solo exhibition by acclaimed artist and colourist Caroline Bailey RSW (Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour). 

It will be held at Watermark Gallery on Royal Parade.

The exhibition is the first in a series of three joint events, with future exhibitions by Mike Bernard RI and Katharine Holmes both planned for the Autumn/Winter 2023. 

This week’s photograph was taken by Len Bownes, capturing two artists working with the cherry blossom as their subject.

Len Bownes

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

A primary school in Nidderdale has won a national competition to design a coronation bench, which will be displayed in the Tower of London.

Historic Royal Palaces invited schools across the UK to take part in the competition to mark the coronation.

About 1,500 took part and Dacre Braithwaite Church of England Primary School has been chosen as one of 15 winners.

Children from Year 2 to Year 6 at Dacre formed a coronation art club, which met weekly. Their designs were based on what the pupils learned about the historical importance and symbolism of the coronation, as well as their own ideas on the vision and values of the monarchy.

Head teacher Jo Dobbs said:

“The children were inspired by these discussions and the coronation bench designs evolved from there with every child contributing many pieces of art during ‘thought shower’ sessions, enabling everyone to contribute ideas and pictures for each theme.

“Designs were then amalgamated, some re-drawn and shrunk down to fit the template whilst maintaining the details that the children imagined and drew.”

This bench was brought to life in collaboration with artist Jenny Leonard – a community-driven commission artist, specialising in murals and art trails.

It shows the sun’s rays beaming down over the four UK nations, highlighting the values supported by the King: championing young people; supporting the Commonwealth; environmental conservation and sustainable farming.

The bee is the school’s symbol and the children chose a crown to represent the King. The school’s values decorate the sides of the bench with bees and crowns.

Read More:

• Tim Milburn appointed headteacher of Harrogate’s Rossett School
• Friendship bench unveiled at Follifoot School

This week’s photograph was taken by Justin Welburn, capturing the early morning sunrise in Whixley.

Justin Welburn

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

This story is sponsored by Lucy Pittaway.

One of the UK’s favourite artists says she has been “blown away” by the reception since opening her new gallery in Harrogate before Christmas. 

Lucy Pittaway already has four other galleries across the North – in Richmond, Yarm, Keswick and near her home in Brompton-on-Swale – where she sells original artwork and prints of her paintings, which she calls “art that makes you smile” – but wanted a presence a little further south. 

She said: 

“We’ve been blown away by the reception we’ve had in Harrogate – not just from other traders, but from local people coming into the gallery too.The feedback’s been wonderful. The gallery has been really well received, which makes us feel we’ve definitely made the right decision opening here.

“Footfall’s been incredibly strong. We were getting people wanting to come in before we’d even opened. It’s actually been quite challenging, because we’ve had to take on more people just to cope with demand.”

Lucy Pittaway graduated from Northumbria University with a degree in Graphic Design, and went on to teach and lecture at Darlington Technical College of Art and Design. It was only after she had started a family with childhood sweetheart Neil that she felt it was the perfect time to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a professional artist.  

Her pictures, which often feature scenes, animals and characters from the Yorkshire Dales, can now be found in homes and galleries across the UK and beyond. 

She has won an armful of prestigious awards from the Fine Art Trade Guild, including Best Up-and-Coming Artist, Best Art Website of the Year, and the UK’s Most Popular Published Artist in 2018, 2019 and 2022. 

Nevertheless, when Lucy decided to open her gallery in the heart of Harrogate, on Prospect Place at the end of James Street, she had little idea of how local traders would respond – but she needn’t have worried. 

She said: 

“Coming to Harrogate has been really eye-opening. It’s a very welcoming town. From a business-to-business point of view, we were really quite overwhelmed by the help we received from [tourism body] Destination Harrogate. They took a lot of time out to answer all our questions about recruitment, seasonality, advertising and business organisations.

“Other businesses have been very supportive too, and I think that says a lot about the genuine nature of businesses in Harrogate. They want to do the best for their customers and are interested in improving choice on the high street.”

Buoyed by the success of the Harrogate opening, Lucy is now hoping to repeat the achievement in other towns in the region. 

She said:

“We’ve just gone through some major renovation at our head office in Brompton-on-Swale, and have invested a lot in new warehousing and office space, which will help us feed more galleries and expand. 

“We want to bring a vibrancy to the high street to make people smile. We’re planning to open more galleries this year – so watch this space!” 

Find out more:

Discover why Lucy Pittaway is the UK’s most popular published artist by visiting her newest gallery at 21 Prospect Place, Harrogate.

Or check out her latest paintings on her award-winning website, lucypittaway.co.uk.

Just over 1% of 2,658 artworks owned by Harrogate Borough Council are currently on display to the public, figures reveal.

A freedom of information request to the authority by the Local Democracy Reporting Service found that 37 artworks are on display at its galleries or museums.

The council refused to publish the total value of the collection, saying that doing so could attract thieves.

However in 2019 it valued its 2,642 artworks at a combined £6.7m.

Harrogate Borough Council owns the Mercer Art Gallery on Swan Road in Harrogate. It also owns the Royal Pump Room Museum in the town as well as Knaresborough Castle and Museum.

A HBC spokesperson said there was “finite capacity” to exhibit more of its pieces but added it regularly rotates artworks across its locations and also lends pieces to exhibitions across the country. A further 70 artworks will be put on public display later this month, they said.

The collection will become owned by the new unitary authority North Yorkshire Council on April 1.

A HBC spokesperson said:

“Harrogate Borough Council’s collection of artworks includes thousands of different items including reproductions, uneditioned prints and a number of pieces of fine art.

“We are very fortunate to have inherited items from people or organisations who have kindly donated to us, so that residents and visitors have the opportunity to see a vast array of art from different periods and movements.

“Due to the nature of our museum venues in Harrogate, and understandably, there is finite capacity to exhibit these valuable pieces and we also want to ensure that when someone visits an exhibition they are encapsulated by the theme or narrative.

“What we put on display therefore varies from year to year and will depend on what exhibition is on show at that time. This is common practice by all museums and galleries across the world – helping to ensure displays stay fresh and dynamic and encourage repeat visits as well as new visitors.”

The spokesperson added:

“Last year we held an exhibition from some of the biggest names in Modern British Abstract art, including John Hoyland, Patrick Heron, Gillian Ayres and Albert Irvin.

“And in the coming weeks we launch our new exhibition, ‘Now You See Me’. It showcases 100 portraits from the Harrogate Art Collection, ranging from one of the earliest works in the collection – a portrait of Sir Francis Slingsby from the 1590s – to our most recent acquisition, a photowork by Irish artist Dorothy Cross, purchased by the Contemporary Art Society and the Friends of the Mercer Gallery.

“We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors to enjoy this exciting exhibition, which opens on January 21.″

Read more:

• New council will use Harrogate’s multi-million pound headquarters
• Second consultation to be held on whether to form Harrogate town council

John Chadwick

This week’s photograph was taken by Alistair Hay while out walking his dog Indi, capturing the sunset from the Follifoot dismantled Railway.

Alistair Hay

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.

This week’s photograph was taken by John Shepherd, capturing the moon shining over Fountains Abbey at the Christmas illumination night.

John Shepherd

Photo of the Week celebrates the Harrogate district. It could be anything from family life to capturing the district’s beauty. We are interested in amateur and professional photographs, in a landscape format.

Send your photographs to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk for a chance to be featured next week, we reserve the right to adjust and crop images to fit into our format.