Meet the Artists
18 artists have freely contributed their talents skills and insights and their efforts are greatly appreciated.
In lending their completed works to be displayed in this brief but powerful exhibition. They have donated a part of themselves to the retelling of the story of that crucial moment in time.
Paul Bryan
Paul is principally a figurative painter and works exclusively in oils.
He trained and worked as a furniture and product designer, later running his own company producing designs and illustrations for prominent interior designers in and around London.
With a love of art he spent many years attending life drawing classes, and more recently painting classes at the Heatherley’s School of Fine Art.
In his work he strives to achieve images with a twist or emphasis that brings out the hint of a story in each picture.
Contact: paulbryan6720@gmail.com
Victoria Couves-Sheridan
A self-taught Artist and Book Illustrator, for over 40 years, Victoria has specialised in portraiture but also undertaken a wide variety of commissions. She has contributed to many exhibitions and was briefly Resident Artist in a Kent art gallery. At the age of 18, she had been accepted into both Goldsmiths and Brighton Art Colleges, however, life took another direction and she did not continue her studies.
Eventually, Victoria became a full time college and university lecturer in Early Years & Childhood Education as well as Health & Social Care. Alongside this, she also developed a Stress Relief and Life Coaching Practice and hosted Business Networks. She also hosted her own show on FM and Internet radio.
Now retired from her career Victoria focused on her role as an Artist, Author and Wellbeing Advocate.
Contact: victoriasheridan1@gmail.com
Photographer: Tina Chatfield
Sandra Dean
Born in Kent in1946 Sandra's journey began at Art School in Gravesend and Rochester College of Art Kent . where she studied Fine Art. Her passion was and still is mainly for Portraiture and the figure where she strives to convey the " spirit "as well as the form in her traditional painting and drawing.
After a lifetime of doing other things (Psychiatric Nurse , running a family business, Motherhood ) Sandra is now happy to live the quiet life in the Kentish countryside , inspired by her passion. She has had solo exhibitions in Suffolk and Kent, and is also a published Artist in a range if Sachet Mixte themed books.
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Contact: sandrardean@outlook.com
Abigail Elwell-Sutton
Abigail trained in Fine Art at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BA Hons). She spent several years at Sotheby’s Institute of Art London co-ordinating their MA Contemporary Art programme. She now lives and works in Rainham, Kent with her husband and two children.
Abigail's creative process starts with photography, capturing a fleeting moment in the natural world. She then spotlights the most interesting shapes, often focusing on negative space or stark, contrasting shadows to inspire her own block colour interpretation.
Abigail’s paintings shine a fresh light on the colours, spaces and patterns that nature produces so effortlessly
Contact: abi.ailsa.art@gmail.com
Janice Emmott
Janice began painting in her mid-40s and studied an Access to Art course at Kent University, where she based her MA dissertation on the symbolism of lions in art.
Janice retired from her career in NHS and Social Services and since then, her creative projects include murals for a residential home, a collection of sewn, painted and printed panels for the environmental campaign to save endangered wildlife, the ‘Swanscombe Quilt’, and her sculpted ‘Vesica Pisces’ which was featured in Jane Furst’s ‘Niches’ exhibition at Burham Church.
Currently, Janice is creating animal A-Z books for children which are mainly in linocut and monoprint.
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Contact: jan.emmott@btinternet.com
Photographer: Rikard Osterlund 2022
Jane Furst - Artistic Director
Jane graduated form the Royal College of Art in 1970. In 50 years practicing as an artist she has illustrated book covers for Virago and the Women's Press.
She has been a visiting lecturer in London art institutions for 34 years, had 18 solo exhibitions and participated in 20 group exhibitions such as the Royal Watercolour Society.
For the last 15 years Jane has concentrated on print making using techniques of Mezzotint and Drypoint. Some of Jane's Mezzotints are held in the V&A London, the Welcome Collections and the Ernst Haeckel House, Jena University, Germany.
Contact: www.janefurst.com
Irene Godfrey
Irene was born in the North Pennines and now lives in Kent. She trained at the Cass School of Art, London (BA Fine Art, 2012).
Exhibitions include: Not Just a Postcard (with Maggie Learmonth in Cumbria in which they investigated the perceived value of land) and The Wave of Wings II (with Marie Graesen in Burham, Kent which was an imaginal response to today's world).
Irene's work is currently in the London Metropolitan University collection and private collections across the UK.
Contact: igodfrey239@gmail.com
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John Griffiths
John Griffiths studied painting at the Royal College of Art where he graduated in 1981, after which, he taught Art and Design part-time for 34 years before his early retirement in 2014.
For many years, John maintained a studio practice and exhibited regularly in London, throughout Britain, and occasionally in France, gaining a number of awards and prizes.
John has always written poetry, some of which has been published in various poetry magazines; he has read his work in open mike sessions in London and in Kent.
Currently, John is researching inscribed stones of Dark-Age Britain, which will result in a book.
Contact: jpgriffiths03@outlook.com
Brian Homewood
At age 15, Brian began painting in adult evening classes under the late Chris Alexander and was inspired to attend Heatherley School of Fine Art in order to study life drawing, portraiture, and sculpture.
Still in his teens he spent the late 1960’s backpacking around South Africa spending a year at 20th Century Fox painting scenery.
Brian married at age 22 and spent 35 years running the family business in Margate until he took early retirement,
specifically in order to pursue a painting career.
Although he takes commissions, Brian generally, paints for himself and enjoys landscapes, still life, figure studies, abstracts, and has had several exhibitions.
Alongside his painting, Brian also enjoys curating and running the annual Thanet Young Artists Festival.
Brian was also shortlisted for the BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery.
Contact: brianchomewood@gmail.com
John Hughes
John graduated in Fine Art from Ravensbourne College of Art, then worked as an art teacher for several years in Kent and Sussex.
He left to concentrate on his own painting and to teach adult art classes. John's paintings are landscapes in oil and pastel, with figurative painting too.
More recently. John has shown at the RA Summer Exhibition, at the Mall Gallery with the RBA, the Pastel Society, and the Society of Landscape Painters, as well as a number of commercial galleries in London and the South East.
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Contact: johnhughes.ben@gmail,com
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Paul Jerome
Paul studied art as part of his degree in communications at edge Hill College in Lancashire. Paul specialised in textile design and printmaking.
After a long break, Paul returned to printmaking in 2013, rediscovering a love of lino cutting and relief printing techniques.
His work, often in one or two colours, reflects his interest in British folklore and countryside traditions.
Paul exhibits regularly and is a member of Medway Fine Printmakers based at Intra Arts, Community Art Space in Rochester, Kent.
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Contact: pauljohnjerome@yahoo.co.uk
Paula Judkins
Paula has painted for many years and has been inspired by life models and portraiture, as she tried to capture personality and form.
She studied with artist Patrick Butler and credits him with pushing her art to another level.
Paula currently paints and exhibits with a strong group of Kent artists and was enthused to join this project especially because it is installed within Rochester Cathedral.
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Contact: paulajudkins@btinternet.com
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Simon Mills
Simon Mills attended Art School where, influenced by the work of David Bomberg and Frank Auerbach, he focused on primarily on landscapes with some cityscapes, architectural subjects, and portraiture. As a commercial artist, he painted portraits of several famous people, including Gary Lineker, Jim Broadbent, and Ian Carmichael.
Simon has exhibited in many prestigious galleries and was Senior Scenic Artist at the Royal Opera House where he worked on set design for performances by Fonteyn and Nureyev with John Caxton. Whilst living in Italy, Simon restored wall paintings and frescos in villas and palazzi but since moving to Kent he has often shown his landscapes of the Downs, Medway estuary and surrounding countryside.
Contact: simonmills@dr.com
Barrington Page
Barry started out and qualified as an engineer before entering the NHS and eventually, University where he was both a director and a lecturer. Immediately prior to retirement he worked in health planning and management for the Department of International Development, the World Bank, and the International Red Cross.
On retirement Barry gained a degree in Fine Art, a master’s in Visual Arts, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Painting. After being tutored by Michael Siegel in USA Barry has been shown in Phoenix AZ and Woodland CA galleries.
Reference material for Mathew was poor quality so he developed his own concept of the subject from intuition and imagination. Barry's concentrated on capturing the surprise and shock in his expression and he is happy with the outcome.
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Contact: barripage@gmail.com
Randa Saab
Randa holds a master’s degree in business studies (MBA) from the American University of Business Studies in Beirut and has held management roles in multiple industries.
In 2016, Randa decided to pursue her interest in the Arts and Humanities studying via an Access course at the University of Kent/ After which, she went on to achieve a BA in Fine Arts at the Lebanese University in Beirut. Randa continued developing her skills by studying sculpture, Art Critique and History of Art.
Randa believes Art is the utmost expression of humanity and a refinement of the human soul. She enjoys painting still life, landscape, figurative art and portraiture. Randa also enjoys sculpture, installation, icon painting and textile art.
Contact: randasaabart@outlook.com
Deborah Smith
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Deborah met a group of local artists who inspire and encouraged her and who all have studios in and around the Medway Towns. She took a studio at the Nucleus Arts Centre in Chatham in 2017 and has been working from there ever since; free to express her feelings and joy of paint.
Deborah's work is figurative, spontaneous, fast. She regularly uses mixed media, mostly now working in oil. Driven by the intricacies and character of the human form; the gesture of a mood; the play of light on shape; the play of shape in light. She continues to be totally amazed and inspired by the human form.
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Contact: deborahjsmith1st@gmail.com
Hanna-Leena Ward - Iconographer
As an interior architect, Hanna researched and specialised in the interior architecture, Sacred Art and Geometry in Churches.
She became a professional Iconographer, Illuminator, and Manuscript painter, and for over 20 years has undertaken commissions, using traditional methods with natural and semi-precious pigments on a variety of traditional surfaces, for churches, private chapels and private collectors around the world.
Hanna also teaches sacred geometry, folk art, and icon painting in prestigious art schools in London, Spain and in Finland, her and exhibits annually, in a variety of Cathedrals in the UK and abroad.
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Contact: info@hannawardicons.com
the late and eminent
Ann Welch - Iconographer
Apprenticed in display, she worked at Liberty’s where fabric design influenced her career. She learned traditional batik. Her innovative process, based on the Javanese craft, featured in 5 books and on the cover of Fiber Art magazine.
She studied painting with the charismatic Nicholas Buhalis in NYC; fresco at Accademia Caerite, Rome; iconography in Greece, NYC, and Moscow, and was elected to the Brooklyn Water Colour Society
She curated and participated in ‘Divine Dimensions’, Oare, and ‘British Artists Paint Lesbos’, Teriade Museum, Lesbos. She exhibits internationally in galleries and museums
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