Artist Profile - Jane Hughes

By Colin Serjent

Jane Hughes is a Liverpool-based artist and a member of the 'Myrtle' artists collective. She has helped arrange a site-specific show for the group to be held in the Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre, at the Old Stableyard on Smithdown Lane (21 September-18 October).

"Drawing forms an important part of my artistic practice, with on-site sketchbook work almost always underpinning my resulting paintings." she said."Over several years I have developed a strong interest in the paintings of the English Post-Impressionists, finding inspiration in the colours and compositions of artists such as Roger Fry, Harold Gilman and Frederick Spencer Gore.

"My current body of work focuses on landscape; specifically landscape that holds a special sense of place or mystery," she added. "I frequently visit ancient sites such as stone circles, as well as local places such as Hale and Formby. These also have a strong feeling of the past. "My work 'The long shadows, Castlerigg' was a painting developed from a series of drawings made on site as the sun was starting to sink. This ancient circle near Keswick has strong links to solar cycles, and the past significance becomes a strong influence each time I visit.

"'Pathway' was developed from a set of contour sketches made early in the morning down at Hale," stated Jane. "As I walked through the woods I noticed a particular viewpoint through the trees, with the cart track snaking seductively down towards the lighthouse.

"Another piece, 'From the woods', also arose from a sketch at Hale, and contains another view, through trees towards Frodsham hill in the distance."'Pine clump, Formby' shows a highly distinctive group of trees in the pinewoods during bright November sunlight. As with 'From the woods', the negative spaces created by the gaps between the trees are as much a feature as the trees themselves".

The above contemporary landscapes worked in acrylic on canvas were exhibited in the recent Myrtle group exhibition held at the ArtSpeQ Gallery based within Quiggins Centre in Liverpool city centre.