Art students exhibit work at Worthing gallery

Talented art students from across the county have exhibited their work in Worthing.
Thea Lornie, from Rustington, with her war art project pieceThea Lornie, from Rustington, with her war art project piece
Thea Lornie, from Rustington, with her war art project piece

An exhibition of art pieces created by students taking adult education courses is open at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery for two weeks. 
Work from 38 students, created on courses in Bognor Regis, Clymping, West Worthing and Broadwater, is being displayed from July 30 to August 13. 
Lynda Crooke, 66, of Leigh Road in Worthing, who has been attending classes for five years since retiring and has five pieces hanging in the exhibition, said: “We’ve had our work displayed in a church hall before but to have it in a proper art gallery is very nice.”

Valerie Le Serve, from Worthing, said of the exhibition: “It’s great, really good and gives you something to work towards. There’s lots of wonderful art up here and its an oppportunity to show it.”

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She also said the classes were a good way to meet people. “The social aspect is very important. I’ve made a lot of friends here,” she added.

Jacqueline Hope and Valerie Le Serve with their Memento Mori artworksJacqueline Hope and Valerie Le Serve with their Memento Mori artworks
Jacqueline Hope and Valerie Le Serve with their Memento Mori artworks

The exhibition displays work from six projects with different themes, including natural history, religious art and war art, which students could interpret in their own way to create a final piece.

Thea Lornie, 70, from Rustington, who has been taking art classes for 10 years, was inspired by the Chilcot Inquiry to create her pencil drawing for the war project, which shows the family of a dead solider next to a coffin.

“I wanted to call it ‘Bliar’,” she said, “It’s the wife and child left behind, saying ‘why’. What a waste of a life.”

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Students are free to experiment with a range of media in the classes, including pencil, ink, pastel, acryclic and watercolours.

Some of the 38 artists who exhibited their work at the gallery, with course teacher Tricia Johnson (centre)Some of the 38 artists who exhibited their work at the gallery, with course teacher Tricia Johnson (centre)
Some of the 38 artists who exhibited their work at the gallery, with course teacher Tricia Johnson (centre)

Jacqueline Hope, from Worthing, based her piece for the Memento Mori project on her graduation photo, turning herself into a skeleton.

“My family call me the eternal student because I’m always studying something, I went to university after I retired,” she said.

Of the weekly art classes, she said: “It’s a very happy group. We have a lot of fun.”

The art courses run for three 11 week terms per year.

Amanda Callagham, Chris Weymouth and Cilla Isted with their workAmanda Callagham, Chris Weymouth and Cilla Isted with their work
Amanda Callagham, Chris Weymouth and Cilla Isted with their work
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Sue Anderson, 60, from Littlehampton, said: “It’s a sociable way of meeting like minded people. Our classes are on a Monday morning so it starts the week off rather nicely.”

She was inspired the theme ‘allegory’ to create a piece she titled ‘Tunnel Vision’, about our society’s obsession with smartphones.

Chris Weymouth, 73, from Clymping, said: “I sort of stumbled upon the art classes and once I started I thought yes, this is for me.”

He created a colourful pastel artwork representing his notion of the Christian future for the exhibition. Being colourblind, the course teacher, Tricia Johnson, helped him select the colours.

Sue Anderson with her piece titled 'Tunnel Vision'Sue Anderson with her piece titled 'Tunnel Vision'
Sue Anderson with her piece titled 'Tunnel Vision'
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“Tricia is a very good teacher,” he said. “She understands that everyone is different and wants to do different things.”

Tricia Johnson, who studied art at Chichester University and has been giving classes in West Sussex for more than 15 years, said: “The exhibition has been a great success. It has been very inspirational for all the students involved to see how their peers attending other courses have tackled the same projects with differing styles and ideas.

“I am very proud of all the student artists who have worked extremely hard over the past year’s projects to produce exhibition ready pieces.”

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