We offer fine picture framing, high quality art restoration and picture cleaning, restoration of old photos, canvas printing, craft items, original paintings and artists prints, and much more.
Showing posts with label Art Lovers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art Lovers. Show all posts
Monday, 9 April 2018
New online gallery
Skills are excited to introduce the new online gallery shop as part of the website make over for 2018. Now you won't have to worry about your favourite painting being purchased by another shopper and we are adding new pieces which have not yet been displayed in the High Street Gallery. Now you can visit the shop anytime you like to view our latest collection.
Thursday, 21 July 2016
Skills for artists and art lovers
Skills lives up to it’s name
- specialist artist materials
- specialist art and photography services
- an exceptional framing service
- highly experienced staff providing art valuation and restoration
Labels:
3D framing,
Acrylic Painting,
Adult Colouring books,
Art,
Art Gallery,
Art Lovers,
Art materials,
British Art,
Buckinghamshire,
UK Art,
Unison Pastels,
Zentangle
Location:
Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes, UK
Thursday, 14 July 2016
Pick n Mix of Fine Art ~ Which is your favourite?
The wind that blows the barley ~
Eleanor McGowan is a Scottish artist who works from her home in Largs, Ayrshire. She is an elected member of the Paisley Arts Institute and Glasgow Society of Women Artists. She is a regular exhibitor in many popular UK Galleries.
Shaggy Sheep and The Colonel ~
Lucy Pittaway studied Art & Design at college, before taking a place at Northumbria University to read Graphic Design where she developed her skills in digital art, photography and mixed media.
After graduating Lucy took a gap year and ran her own business in creative crafts, before pursuing a career in Graphic Design. After two years as a Graphic Designer she was offered a teaching role at the college where she had previously studied- she claims to have learnt as much during that period as she did whilst she was a student! Like many teachers she was given generous holidays and spent as much of that time as possible drawing and creating canvases that were sold to various clientelle in the Uk and Europe.
As time progressed, Lucy came to the conclusion that she enjoyed creating her own paintings and drawings far more than teaching, so gave up teaching to pursue her lifetime passion to become an artist.
Solway Breakers ~
Born in Coalsnaughton, Clackmannanshire, 1943 Secondary education in Portland, Connecticut, USA Rhode Island School of Design, 1961-1963 Edinburgh College of Art, 1964-68
The works of Hugh Mcintyre, D.A.Edin are most typically out of doors, enveloped in atmospheric overtones and continue the long tradition of Scottish painting. Never working from a subject directly, he walks the riverside or seashore in all weathers and then returns to his studio to relive his experiences by putting them down on canvas. once he has decided on a particular arrangement, it will be repeated over and over until the concept is exhausted. Never working on fewer then three canvases at a time, Mcintyre is able to maintain a high level of intensity by constantly changing from one canvas to another, thereby seeing each with a fresh eye. This technique allows the artist to produce the prodigious amount of work for which he is noted. He regularly returns to themes, sometimes years after the initial investigation. Hugh Mcintyre knows his subject matter intimately and from the time he began exhibiting, twenty years ago, has been recognised as an artist who could distil essences from the landscape which were unique. Never a slave to the physical reality of a situation he has created a more meaningful and accurate representation by painting from the heart those ordinary moments which make our landscape extraordinary. Over the last few years, Hugh has travelled widely working in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Brazil. This has introduced a number of new themes into his work and enriched his palette in a very positive way.
Summer Solstice (Harvest Moon also available to view) ~
Charles Monteith Walker was born in 1957 in Falkirk and attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee from 1978-1982 where his influences at this time included Alberto Morrocco and David McClure. After graduation he concentrated mainly on landscape drawings in soft pastels. In the mid 1990’s his style began to evolve after several visits to Italy, Spain and Portugal. The warmth of light and colour, the piazzas, churches and towns provided him with a new, rich source of inspiration and led to the development of his own distinctive, unique style.
His work has become increasingly more bold in colour and composition, mixing imagery, symbols and shapes from a variety of different sources both geographically and historically. Charles is versatile in subject matter moving easily from representational landscape and still life to imaginative, vibrantly coloured stylised compositions all crafted in thick layers of oil paint giving his works a strong, sculptural quality.
Since 2000 Charles has worked on a series of larger scale pieces that are highly distinctive both in style and subject matter including a series inspired by Scottish and Mediterranean landscapes. His work is held in private and corporate collections both in the United Kingdom and overseas and he is now regarded as one of our most original contemporary Scottish artists at the forefront of the New Colourist trend in Scottish Art.
Sundown Fife ~
One of the best loved painters of the recent Scottish exodus into the London Art Market, Christine is a graduate of the famous Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. Her numerous awards have brought her a large following across the country and her extensive travels to Morocco, Tunisia and Italy remain her principal inspiration.
Passenham original watercolour ~
Edward Stamp came to North Bucks as a wartime evacuee at the age of 4. His love for this part of England began at this time.
He acquired an NDD (National Diploma in Design) at Northampton School of Art and became a full-time painter and engraver in 1973 and in 1980. He was then elected as a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. His election to the Society of Wood Engravers came soon after.
He currently has work on show at the Obsidian Art Gallery in Stoke Mandeville near Aylesbury.
Visit Skills in Stony Stratford or contact us via our website if you would like to purchase these wonderful pieces.
Thursday, 9 June 2016
Another wonderful painting finds a new home!
As soon as Stephen Hawkings original oil ‘Sheep on a September Morning’ was placed on our window easel, it immediately became the talk of Stony Stratford’s window shoppers. After a very short space of time, and after many enquiries, a customer who owns a farm in Yardley became the proud owner.
We have other Stephen Hawkings paintings on sale on our Primrose Gallery site for those of you who missed out.
Tuesday, 24 May 2016
Picture Perfect Relocation
Skills Sister Company Picture Perfect has expanded and is right now moving into a prestigious workshop and showrooms. Customers will now have an interactive experience of Picture Perfects Fine Art Trade Guild team using the latest technology to produce budget, commended, conservation, and Museum grade framing results. The customer can also relax with the free parking to make informed choices for memorabilia framing, picture and photo restoration, fine art printing, and other picture solution services.
Get Directions to visit Picture Perfects new Framing workshops and showrooms.
Thursday, 31 March 2016
Artist of the Week - Ken Howard
Low Water at Mousehole 1995
Oil on board approx 11" x 14"
14" x 17" gold frame with slip mount
£3750
Ken Howard studied at Hornsey School of Art from 1949 to 1953. He then did his National Service with the Royal Marines before returning to study at the Royal College of Art from 1955 to 1958. He went on to win a British Council Scholarship to Florence from 1958 to 1959.
Howard’s first solo show was held at the Plymouth Art Centre in 1955. Subsequent exhibitions were held in 1966 and 1968 at the John Whibley Gallery. From then on he exhibited extensively, both nationally and internationally, particularly with the New Grafton Gallery from the early 1970s. He was given a retrospective in 1972 at the Plymouth City Art Gallery and in 1973 and 1979 was appointed by the Imperial War Museum as official artist in Northern Ireland. He also worked with the British Army in Germany, Cyprus, Oman, Hong Kong, Nepal, Norway, Canada, Belize and Brunei from 1973 to 1982.
Howard was elected a member of the New English Art Club in 1962, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1966, the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1979, the Royal West of England Academy 1981, Honorary Member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1988, Royal Academician in 1991 and President of the New English Art Club in 1998. Among his numerous awards are First Prize in the Lord Mayor’s Art Award in 1966, a Prize Winner in the John Moores Exhibition, Liverpool in 1978, first prize in the Hunting Group Awards and the Critics Prize at Sparkasse Karlsruhe in 1985. Ken Howard lives and works in London.
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
Skills have a Calorie Free Easter Egg for you
Golden Egg & Smartie by Ramond Campbell
Original oil on board
7.5 x 7.5 cm
7.5 x 7.5 cm
Presented in a fancy warm silver/white gold frame and white slip
20 x 20 cm wall size
20 x 20 cm wall size
£220
Why Skills choose Loxley Artists Traditional Stretched Canvas
Special offer Triple Canvas Packs Available in Store Now for a Limited time
As an artist, choosing a well priced quality canvas can be confusing and often a mistake can happen when having chosen to buy a simple stretched canvas which is not prepared and your painting is ruined by lack of preparation or experience with a canvas as your chosen surface. This article gives the low down on why Skills chooses Loxley Artists Canvas range over others you may find at discount chains.- Double primed vs triple primed – Does one extra coat of priming make a difference? Surely double is enough to ensure the the paint stays on the surface? Take it from an acrylic artist, a triple primed canvas is necessary if you prefer a quick and hassle free choice. A cheap double primed canvas = wasting paint and time wasted priming an extra coat on the cheap canvas when you could be happily painting.
- Traditionally strectched and manufactured, the mitred corners are made with a free floating tongue and groove so that the canvas can be re-tensioned if needed using the supplied wedges.
- The larger of the canvases have cross bars to add strength and stability to the frame.
- The cross bars in the Loxley Gold 18mm deep range have rounded edges to prevent paint lines forming when painting with a ‘heavy-hand’ technique or palette knife.
- There are a vast range of sizes available in the Loxley Gold Standard/Traditional 18mm depth and in the modern Chunky 36mm depth.
Labels:
Acrylic,
Art Lovers,
Art materials,
Artists,
Canvas.,
Oils,
Surfaces
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Art Lovers Valentine Ideas
Feel the love in Stony Stratford at Skills with these wonderful Valentines gift ideas. A bouquet of roses does not last, but these beautiful rose prints will be a lasting token of love. The Jenni Murphy print ‘The Romantic Gardener’, framed in a gorgeous shabby chic duck egg green, is our window centrepiece. We have the beautiful ‘Companion’ for dog lovers, and the fun ‘HareKare’ by the amazing printmaker Alison Read. There is also the memorabilia framing service to surprise your loved one with a framed football shirt, photo booth keepsake, or 3D framing of the best souveniors of a fledgling romance.
Visit Stony Stratford, number 18 High Street, MK11 1AF. See our website for details or follow us on Facebook or Twitter for art inspiration and new stock ranges.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)