Welcome to Ilkley Arts

Graduating from The Scottish College of Textiles , then Glasgow School of Art her textiles stem from many, many long sessions of freehand stitching primarily on a sewing machine .

There are original framed artworks , brooches, badges , bookmarks and illustrations which are then reproduced to produce tea towels , aprons and other usable items in addition to commissions for retail outlets. Examples of caricature and a series of natural motifs establish themselves to create an enchanting fantasy world of special places to visit.

I have lived in Ilkley all my life and it is intrinsic to who I am as an artist. My work is based around line, this can sometimes involve different mediums but is always based around those original marks. My work is led by feel and intuition. The image emerges from the page as I capture depth, perspective and character.

There are moments when you look at something - a bird with its twisting body, a landscape full of contrast or the passing of the seasons, a face showing life’s journey and the passing of time. Whether it is awe, peace, joy, interest or curiosity these are the moments that inspire me.

Olivia has been an artist for the last three half years, going full-time almost immediately upon discovering she could paint. Olivia works from her countryside home studio near Ilkley and travels frequently to the family house in Filey to exhibit at the Pop-up Gallery shop, a venture she co-hosts with her parents and daughter. 

An artist born and living in Yorkshire, the hills and dales of this lovely part of the world do occasionally appear in my work. I paint in oils and though I love to paint pretty much anything from 19th century inspired seascapes, an alla prima sketch of hills in Appletreewick to an explosion of colour in the form of an abstract; my first love is realism.

I am fine art trained and based in Wharfedale. For the last five years I have focussed almost exclusively on making screen prints, exploring the wide range of ways in which this process can be used to varying effect. My work does not fit readily into a single category or style, but remains forever exploratory, playful and transformative.

I am a largely self-taught painter of landscapes and portraits in various media, often oils. I paint for the joy of it, and it is my 'opposite world'. My development as an artist began in earnest when I needed an escape from the stress of my work as an intensive care doctor during the 2019 pandemic. I am inspired by light and shadows in beautiful places that are important to me, or the people who ask me to paint them.

I started painting in acrylics, mesmerized by the shimmering colours of Venice, Tuscany and the brooding wild mountains of Scotland. I have since taken to oils to capture the whirling clouds and hills of Yorkshire.

My love affair with clay and ceramics began at the early age of 11, when my mother took me along to a pottery class in East Germany. I still remember how I enjoyed the feeling of working the clay, smoothing the surface of my pots and the satisfaction of holding a finished piece. I think I was hooked straight away.