Ecco Arts

A group of four women who graduated from Blackburn College (BA Fine Art) held an exhibition at Blackburn Cathedral to showcase their work as they opened a studio together. Their exhibition "Reflections" was approached by each artist individually, creating what it meant to each of them. I've never been a big fan of contemporary art but I wanted to see the work of artists who were not internationally acclaimed in national galleries.


First was the work of Janet Fletcher, she focused on painting plants from her garden and local countryside. All of her work is mixed media on canvas. Of her own work, she said she was "exploring texture and colour pined down with geometric form".

The first painting was an abstract piece called "Springwood Haze", it was the only abstract work in the exhibition and yet it was my favourite. Although I have never been a fan of abdtract art, this is the one that I felt was most emotive out of the whole exhibition.

Next were a selection of flower sketches including forget-me-nots, an iris and a lily. The flowers were detailed and colourful with a plain background which really made the image stand out. The following paintings (Solomon's Seal and Purple Iris) hve less detail than the previous sketches but involve more of a background to compensate for this.




Second were the works of Genine Forrest, who "celebrates the contemplative nature of places both human and man made which promote peace and invite reflection".

Her work was a collection of landscapes, such as Blackburn Cathedral in which the exhibition was held. Her work was obviously very detailed and realistic and portrayed a variety of both man made and natural scenes. I always thought tha contemporary art had to be abstract in some way but this was completely different.

Finally was Maureen Brooks who used painting as a way of reflecting memories in her life. She said of her own work that it was not just images that created memories but sounds and smells. Her images were incredibly life like and in her paintings of festivals you could really feel the atmosphere as the sun set and the crowds went home.