By Gaynor Lloyd RICHARD CLARE  could be described as one of Britain’s more fortunate artists. Three years ago he sold his home in the UK and decided to take his family to settle in Italy. Happily, they are all enjoying every sunny minute of it. However, Richard has retained his studio in Saddleworth in order to maintain a continued relationship with his galleries and clients in the UK. Thankfully, he returns quite frequently to rediscover the Yorkshire moors and Derbyshire hills that he vigorously portrays on canvas. Richard has an annual exhibition at the Wendy Levy Gallery in Didsbury and this year’s show will begin just in time for Richard to make an appearance at the Didsbury Arts Festival. He will be giving a talk and demonstration of his wonderful paintings at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club on Tuesday 29th September from 7.30pm – 9pm and admission is free. He will then be giving a couple of talks on Saturday 3rd October during his solo show at the Wendy Levy Gallery, 17 Warburton Street, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6WA. The exhibition will include paintings made in Italy as well as in the UK. The talks will take place at 11am and 3pm at the gallery and admission is free. Anyone wanting to attend either of these events should contact Wendy Levy on 0161 446 4880 or by email: wendy@wendyjlevy-art.com Barga, Tuscany 9 THE ART OBSERVER August 2009 DIDSBURY ARTS FESTIVAL 2009 Artist flies from Italy for Didsbury Arts Festival Paintings by the late Kenneth Lawson will be shown during the Didsbury Arts Festival KENNETH LAWSON  was a well-known figure in Didsbury, but comparatively few people knew what a treasure he was. Kenneth was a well respected artist in London during his youth. He was called upon by Graham Sutherland to assist him in the making of the large painting com- missioned for the Festival of Britain in 1951. He went on to work with Sutherland on other projects and was the only assistant Graham Sutherland ever had.  Kenneth came to Manchester to work for the BBC as a set designer and was responsible for many well-known sets including the first ‘Top Of The Pops’. He continued to paint throughout his time in Manchester, gaining added inspiration from his journeys to other countries. Later in life he spent a lot of time in the South of France where he enjoyed the warmth of the climate as well as being provided with stimulating seascapes and landscapes in equal measure, from which he produced many wonderful paintings. His paintings are in many pri- vate collections in the UK and abroad. Sadly, Kenneth died last year at the age of 87. The Didsbury Arts Festival gives the opportunity to see some of the paintings produced by this charismatic artist. The exhibition runs from Saturday 26th September until Saturday 3rd October at Didsbury Library. Free admission. Blue Evening, Ligurian Coastline THE WELL ESTABLISHED  and versatile artist Cecile Elstein pres- ents an exhibition of her sculp- ture, prints, drawings and video. Before inviting people to walk round her exhibition, Cecile will give a short introductory talk titled “Drawing from Time”. Adding another dimension to the evening will be Shirley Nicholson who will read her poems and Jonathan Booty who will play from his composition, ‘Secret Studies for solo flute’. This interesting and entertaining event will take place on Wednesday 30th September from 6.30pm to 9pm. Places are limited and must be booked in advance. For further information regarding venue and to book a place contact Wendy J Levy on 0161 446 4880 or email: wendy@wendyjlevy-art.com. Please quote reference The Art Observer when making your application. Cecile Elstein - ‘Made in Didsbury, A Celebration’ at Didsbury Arts Festival By Molly Byrne Robinson “Tradition with contemporary conscious- ness and an eclectic mix of old and new” is how Hungarian-born artist Eva Hamilton- Fisher describes her work. With a rich past rooted in Eastern European tradition, her work is a link between her past and her present. Eva currently lives and works in the Northwest and has delighted over the past five years in exploring themes around the pursuit of happiness and beauty. She is fascinated by the work of old masters and has developed an exciting body of work using their techniques combined with con- temporary feelings. Eva’s work is a reflec- tion of her past beautifully entwined with her present, it exudes emotion through its depth, and is an amalgamation of inspira- tion and experience. The influence of her favourite artists is very evident in Eva’s work. Through her radiat- ing colours, she channels the Hungarian Colourists and French Fauvists, while her fluid figurative works from life are reminis- cent of the Dadaists and Surrealists. Looking to the old masters, Eva has devel- oped her traditional technique of beginning with willow charcoal and then layering sev- eral thin washes of oil on top to create tremendous depth. The result is highly emotional, exhilarating images that have a strong connection to tradition.      In Eva’s latest work, she has relied heavily on the use of willow charcoal. She describes it as her favourite medium and goes on to say “it is both old and powerful and has survived everything. It deserves its place in contemporary trends.” Using the willow charcoal as a base, she goes on to over paint and over glaze the sketches before adding several layers of thin oil paint to shape the images. This process leads to vibrant, rich colours and what Eva describes as “precision in regard to com- position, proportion and tones.” She also adds that “they are nothing more than spontaneous, organic sketches from the subconscious.” This combination of preci- sion and spontaneity leads to exciting imagery that draws in the viewer on a very personal level. Expanding on her use of willow charcoal, Eva has continued to produce figurative drawings from life.  These drawings may seem like a stark contrast to her paintings but they are directly related through style and composition. Eva states “though the paintings follow the principals of traditional figurative paintings, in this time, they remain in a non-figurative form,” therefore re-visiting the theme of sponta- neous, organic sketches. The figurative drawings are a testament to Eva’s versatili- ty as an artist as well as her dedication to traditional techniques.   Eva is currently working on an upcoming solo show for the Wendy J Levy Gallery, titled ‘BACK TO NATURE’.  The show will feature a new series of large-scale oil paintings inspired by glowing colours of old masters as well as smaller, figurative works from life. The exhibition will be held from Friday 11th September until Saturday 26th September 2009; opening hours are Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 5pm. There will be a late night opening on Tuesday 15th September when the gallery will be open until 8pm. Venue: Wendy J Levy Contemporary Art, 17 Warburton Street, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6WA  Tel/Fax 0161 4464880. Email: wendy@wendyjlevy-art.com. www.wendyjlevy-art.com. Admission: Free TRADITION WITH CONTEMPORARY CONSCIOUSNESS: THE WORK OF EVA HAMILTON-FISHER