Blackburn’s Margaret Evans Fisher uses more than just paint to create her images of Lancashire, writes Barbara Waite
There’s a thread of Lancashire running through Margaret Evans Fisher’s work. And probably some grasses too. They are her very personal additions to the scene and add a delicacy and intricate detail to her paintings.
The River Ribble at Sawley is very typical of her work which starts life as a watercolour sketch done on the spot. After taking reference photographs and collecting her vegetation, Margaret heads back to her home studio in Blackburn where she starts her painting proper on watercolour paper, adding textile threads, grasses and her own handmade paper.
The overlayering is completed with acrylic or oil paint and some pastel which gives exciting texture. The different papers used give an uneven edge and when framing she leaves off a mount to draw the eye into the picture.
Brought up in Lytham St Annes, Margaret takes her inspiration from the nearby Ribble Valley, the sea on the west coast and the Lake District.
She started painting from an early age and attended Blackpool & Fylde School of Art and more recently studied textiles with the Open College of the Arts winning a prize for a work in an exhibition at St Martin’s School of Art in London.
She is no stranger to winning awards and commendations as a member of Lytham St Annes Art Society, New Longton Artists and Blackburn Artists. She has also painted murals for local schools and private homes.
In 2008 Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery acquired one of her paintings, Regeneration of Blackburn, and she has held many solo exhibitions in Lancashire and exhibited in Manchester, London and Cheltenham.
Her work is held in many private collections in Britain, Europe and America. You can see more of her work at Arteology Gallery in Albert Road, Colne or by visiting www.arteology.co.uk Prices range from £150 to £500.
