Ulgham artist opens new exhibition at Wooler gallery

Jane Murray’s exhibition, titled Flowers and Frocks, can be seen at Gallery @ No6.

The Ulgham-based painter works mainly in watercolour, with the occasional use of gouache and ink.

She said: “I have drawn and painted all my life and studied for a degree in Fine Art at Leicester and Hull.

"After years of painting vague abstracts in oils I started designing greetings cards.

"This soon became too limiting and I enlarged my designs and sold them as pictures.”

She continued: "Looking at flowers in detail led me to become interested in the intricacies and beauty of all natural forms.

"I gradually moved away from obsessional detail and moved towards a looser more painterly style.

"I still love the form and colour of flowers and grow irises and poppies each year to paint.”

Even vegetables make an enjoyable subject matter for Jane.

"One year I started to see the beauty in my red onions and my eyes were opened to the variety of colour and shapes of all vegetables,” she revealed.

"My interest in the seasons also draws me to autumn leaves, trees in winter landscapes and the details of rotting wood, bark and fungi.”

She is even known to some as ‘The Cabbage Lady’ on account of her most popular print, titled Red Cabbage, which was inspired by an autumn walk past an allotments site in Morpeth.

Gallery @ No6 is open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10am to 4pm. Closed on Monday, Tuesday, Sunday and Bank Holidays.