Art in the Everyman // Wirral Society of Arts Open Prize winners

16 Jan to 11 Feb
Featuring: Nicola Rowley, Vidah Roberts, Mark Elsmore, John Whitehill and Jackie Wagg

The Wirral Society of Arts (WSA) has been in existence since 1948 and aspires to be the premier organisation for the fine arts on the Wirral. Each year, the Williamson hosts a WSA prize exhibition. This exhibition at Art In The Ev is comprised of the work of WSA prize winners and the committee’s selection from this year’s open exhibition.

Nicola Rowley

"I graduated from Wirral Metropolitan College in 2002 with a First Class BA Honours Degree in Fine Art. I am a figurative artist who likes to work in oils and charcoal. I love to do commissions and am happy to work in collaboration with clients to create an original, exciting work of art. I have paintings in both public and private collections and sell nationally and internationally.” 2000 -  joint prize winner of the Wirral Spring and Photography Exhibition. 2003 - runner up in the Daily Mail Weekend Competition “Not the Turner Prize”. 2007 - second prize winner in the Chester Grosvenor Museum Biennial Open exhibition. 2010 - invited to exhibit in the Chester Grosvenor Museum Exhibition Face Value: Portraits in Public and Private. 2015 - winner of the Kriterion Prize at the Wirral Spring and Photography Exhibition. 2022  - one of the prize winners at the Wirral Society of Arts Exhibition.  
www.nicolarowley.co.uk

Vidah Roberts

 

"Drawing is really at the core of my art work, whether with a pencil on paper, or onto a slightly more complicated etching plate, the simple line can be so exciting. I have recently been working on a series of drawings which are essentially about creative spaces in nature. All the pieces are set within the landscape, often with close work of trees, roots, branch formations and pathways, focussing on the feeling of life held in living, growing spaces. Drawing can give a static grasp of the track that life makes.” 

Mark Elsmore

Mark Elsmore works in the Staffordshire Moorlands as a professional artist. Elected a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 2007, and a member of the Wirral Society of Arts since 2004, he has work in public and private collections throughout the UK and overseas. His work has been selected for prestigious exhibitions including those of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, Royal Watercolour Society, Discerning Eye, New English Art Club, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Manchester Academy, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and Wirral National.
Prizes & Awards - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2012 / Royal Watercolour Society Winsor & Newton Prize 2015 / Wirral National 2004, 2012 / RBSA Member & Associates Coley Tilley Prize 2009 / Potteries Open 2008 / Keele Three / Counties 1999, 2001, 2004 / Stafford Open 2001 / Chester Grosvenor Museum and Art Gallery permanent collection 2015.
www.mark-elsmore.co.uk

John Whitehill

“My art education started at the Laird School of Art, Birkenhead followed by further study in Fine Art at North Staffordshire Poly and M.A. Printmaking at Chelsea School of Art. The overarching theme of my work is the built or managed environment. My recent paintings depict tabletop constructions of small buildings and landscapes influenced by architectural models and model railway scenery. They are an ongoing interest I have in using the tradition of still life to suggest narrative possibilities to the viewer. I have exhibited at many open exhibitions throughout the country and in London at the Mall Galleries, Bankside Gallery and Affordable Art Fair.”
www.johnwhitehill.co.uk

Jackie Wagg

Graduated in 1984 with a first class honours degree in Fine Art. She has exhibited in group exhibitions in the UK and USA including the National Portrait Gallery London, the Royal Academy, The Royal Festival Hall, The Whitechapel and Manchester United Stadium Gallery. A prize-winner seven times for her paintings at the Williamson Art Gallery Merseyside. She has been featured in Cheshire Life Magazine, Manchester Evening News, Stockport Express, CAMRA Magazine and has been interviewed on Pure Radio. Her work is in the permanent collection of The Victoria and Albert Museum National Art Library, Stockport Art Gallery and many private collections. 
One of her paintings has been featured on a beer label for a northern brewery.Two of her artworks have been used by JD Wetherspoons for a pub in Preston Jackie has had solo exhibitions at Salisbury Arts Centre, Bayham Abbey in East Sussex sponsored by English Heritage, Direct Line Insurance Manchester, Stockport Art Gallery and Buxton Museum. She was a judge for the Stockport Open Exhibition 2018 and is on the selection panel for the Stockport Art Gallery Exhibition programme. Her work is of the urban North West, particularly Manchester and Stockport where she lives..
www.jackiewagg.com