Gallery of Work
Examples of
work by some of our Art Alert members...
Nancy Adams
Nancy is a mixed media artist. She obtained her H.N.D and then completed her First Class (Hons) Degree in Creative Practice in 2022, which allowed her to experiment in different media, developing skills in glass fusion, ceramics, print and textiles.
Having been a volunteer, she now works part-time for Escape Arts to support Health and Wellbeing projects.
As part of her H.N.D., she focussed on Breast Cancer Awareness, which incorporated a number of different elements of glass fusion and ceramics. Her work always carries deep meanings which are not necessarily obvious to the spectator.
Nancy is inspired by the artist, ‘Louise Bourgeois’.
Art Alert has been instrumental in enabling networking with like-minded creatives, developing friendships and allowing exposure of work through exhibitions.
Glenn Allton
Glenn began drawing during the Covid lockdown, predominantly in graphite and recently Polychromos colour pencils. He particularly enjoys creating portraits of both animals and people.
While drawing from a photo of an elephant during my lunchbreak, I found I was being watched by a colleague who quietly slipped me a note asking if they could buy it. What a boost to my confidence and my first ever sale !! She has since bought further pieces which I am proud to say are framed and hanging in her house.
I’m inspired by Jamie Boots - Wildlife Artist (www.jamieboots.com)
Becoming a member of Art Alert has given me the confidence to share my work and ideas with like minded people and other creatives, thus helping me to develop my skills further.
Anne Becker
Anne has always been interested in Art and has been able to put this into practice since she retired. She experiments with a wide variety of media, collage, printmaking, and paint. Anne paints what inspires her, a wide and eclectic choice of subjects. A humorous self-portrait.
"Edificio Los Naranjos" This is the first collage Anne made, based on a doorway in Spain. It was entered into the 'Decade of Doorways' Art Alert exhibition at the Nuneaton museum and art gallery.
Henri Matisse is an inspirational artist to Anne. She is drawn to his expressive use of colour and design both in painting and collage.
Being a member of Art Alert has been the catalyst for Anne's work. It has encouraged her to create, experiment and exhibit with like-minded people.
Georgie Burns
Taking advantage of Covid Lockdowns during the Pandemic at the start of the decade, Georgina tried her hand at a variety of art forms. It wasn’t long before she discovered a natural flair for watercolour painting. Moreover, this went hand-in-hand with her default genre of natural seascapes, landscapes and traditional buildings that featured in such landscaping. A common feature would become that of a much-loved medieval church, nestled over time in its original village surroundings.
Indeed, the imposition of social distancing in those early days of her learning impacted directly on her own local church: it remained open, but without verbal ministry or sung hymns and choruses. Instead, Georgina’s artwork provided the perfect backdrops to support key Bible verses. Automated on a slideshow, these evocative images promoted silent prayer sessions for fellow church members to ponder, as an interim to their normal service on Sunday mornings. In all, three separate shows (of about a dozen slides each) were created from her watercolour paintings.
Her artistic mentor was Mathew Palmer, who provided many hours of online tuition, notably in vignette style, until Georgina gained enough confidence to continue unaided – even unconstrained – in her own creativity. Nowadays she occasionally enjoys classic tips from Bob Ross; but nearer home, her colleagues in Art-Alert are a valuable source of artistic wisdom, local knowledge and rich inspiration for the future. Art Alert has encouraged her to think out of the box and try other genres, portraits and animals; not forgetting decorating a bench for the art week. Art Alert has encouraged her in exhibiting work, which she sells for Charity. Without Art Alert’s tacit support, painting would be a much lonelier and more isolationist endeavour.
Ann Jenkins
Ann Jenkins is an amateur artist who has always enjoyed painting. She only really started after retiring from teaching. Travelling inspired her to do oils of scenes from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia and views from New Zealand. Ann has also enjoyed a watercolour course in Italy and worked with local artists.
Anne has snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. She was inspired to do a number of paintings in oil. . The colours and shapes were amazing.
Ann loves David Hockney’s work. It has colour, simplicity of style and detail.
Art Alert is a very friendly group.
Joanne Lole
Over 50 years ago, Joanne submitted a 3D handsewn felt squirrel for a school class craft section in the Nuneaton Festival of Arts. Preferring to make clothes and furniture for her Cindy doll rather than ‘play dolls’, Blue Peter’s ‘Here’s One I Made Earlier’ craft section is probably responsible for her urge to keep Dairylea cheese boxes and pizza bases ‘just in case they’re needed for an art project’.
Her lifelong enjoyment of art and craftwork includes enrolling in a 3D HND in Glass and Ceramics, buying a glass kiln, building a work studio and exploring many creative practices. Joanne likes working to a project brief, researching the subject, creating ideas boards and experimenting with various media. It’s important to her to keep learning and experiencing different aspects of the arts.
Joanne admires the work of stained-glass artists Marc Chagall, Johannes Schreiter and Brian Clarke.
Joanne, a founding member of Art Alert, retired from the committee in 2024 after 16yrs. In Oct 2024, Joanne showcased a retrospective exhibition of her glass artwork at The Station Gallery.
Rakha Madahar
Rakha Madahar is a surface pattern designer, illustrator, and creative workshop facilitator behind the award-winning business desgn.prnt.
Guided by her love of vibrant colour and tactile textures, Rakha brings her vision to life through carefully curated artisan prints and patterns—each one designed to evoke emotion, memory, and joy, and showcased across a considered range of products.
She draws inspiration from nature, architecture, travel, and her South Asian heritage—bridging cultures and celebrating identity through meaningful pattern and print. Rakha uses a thoughtful mix of creative techniques, combining hand-drawn detail with digital software to shape designs that feel both modern and timeless.
In 2023, Rakha was one of twelve artists commissioned by Shelter to create artwork that told the story of families and individuals, who were helped by them.
"It was wonderful to be able to create a large piece of accessible art that was displayed at Birmingham New Street Station!"
As a result of being a member of Art Alert, it has given Rakha access to a variety of opportunities within her local community. From exhibiting at The Station Gallery on a number of occasions at group exhibitions to being part of the committee.
Viv McKee
Viv McKee began to get involved in art in her late 60s. Now, in her late 70s, she enjoys all kinds of creative activity. It is difficult to select one medium, when all you do is want to explore. Currently she is working in wood, metal, embroidery, painting rocky landscapes, and a Christmas mural for the village. She’s got a basket to make as well! She enjoys working with children and adults on all sorts of projects. She’s even decorated shoes and painted dog portraits for charity. It is unlikely that she will ever develop her own style, and actually she doesn’t care. Life is too short.
Her mermaid matters to her. She made it when she did foundation at DMU, at the ripe age of 68. When Viv went to school she wasn’t even taught how to wire a plug. Being able to cut, shape and weld large pieces of metal into a favourite form was mind blowing.
There is no one artist or place. She enjoys Brimham Rocks, the headland at Hartlepool and the Forth bridge. Artists depend on her current focus. She admires Sue Nichol, Gormley and Peter Eugene Ball. Art Alert has been great. It put her in touch with like-minded individuals and provides an impetus when motivation flags.
Ted Parsons
Ted has drawn from an early age and paints mostly with acrylics. His main source of inspiration is being in the landscape. Most of his paintings can be best described as an expressive response to the subject matter.(aka Abstract!). The discipline of objective drawing has always been important to Ted.
A view over the fields from his bedroom window painted in oils when Ted was age 12 is key to his development as an artist; he describes it as a keystone to his work.
In his late teens Ted was impacted on by the work of Paul Cezanne and this continues to be the case and similarly with the work of John Constable. Walking alone in the landscape always inspires Ted e.g.; Calke Abbey parkland S Derbyshire and the hills around the Mawdaach Estuary in Wales.
Art Alert is a valued community of artists that brings new ideas , opportunities and inspiration to Ted and the camaraderie and friendship of the group provide a sense of belonging.
Sophie Smith
Sophie is an aspiring ceramics artist who likes to create functional pieces that also incorporate sculptural elements to them too. She found her passion through studying art at sixth form, in which her art technician started her on her path to pottery. Since then she’s attended pottery classes and also helped out in a small pottery studio. This year she decided to start making her own pottery from her garden studio, in which she intends to sell and attend craft fairs too.
One of my most cherished art works is the lioness head that I made last year which was made completely out of air dried clay. It was then finished with acrylic paints and gold leaf to accentuate certain features. This was done during watching my other passion which is football and I wanted to create a piece that incorporated the two. It was my first sculptural head piece and I can’t wait to make more to improve my skills and venture in to earthenware clays to see how oxides and glazes will create a completely different look.
An artist who inspires a lot of my ideas and creations is Adam Ceramics. I first noticed him on the pottery throw down but I now follow him and his regular updates on Instagram. He creates unique and unusual pieces in the most wonderful ways. It’s incredible to see how you can really turn a lump of clay into anything using at home items like a microwave to fire clay. His endless ideas keep me inspired to try new techniques and styles, as you never know what might come out of it.
There’s also an influence of nature and animals and this has a huge impact on my work. I take inspiration from Mother Nature and how if we stop to look there are so many beautiful things around us. I hope to create this feeling in a replicate of clay and is what keeps inspiring and pushing me towards making unusual and intriguing design's.
Since becoming a member of art alert a couple of years ago, I’ve felt my confidence improve greatly. I’ve sold pieces at one of the monthly art sales and even participated in one of art alerts exhibitions. This is something I couldn’t have imagined a couple of years ago and it’s so amazing to be a part of a welcoming, inspiring and positive bunch of people. All helping to feed ideas to one another and it’s a lovely place to network with artists of similar interests. I can say looking back that each individual has helped with support and encouragement to give me the confidence to pursue what truly makes me happy which is creating art and being fully immersed in it.
Anne Taylor
Anne has enjoyed drawing, painting and making things for most of her life. After a long period taken up with family life and a hectic life of self-employment a renewed interest in art led to a meeting with a small group of like-minded people and the creation of Art Alert.
16 years on and Anne would still regard herself as a jack of all trades and master of none, but enjoying the experiences and embracing the fact that there is no limit to creation and no end to the quest for truth in art.
While trying to rekindle the ability to sketch anywhere and anytime Anne has experimented with printing, painting in watercolour, acrylics and oils but often returns to her love of fabrics and stitching to create expressive work.
Inspiration can come from nature, a walk along the canal, people, constantly fascinating, or memories as in her mixed media picture “Demolition” articulating her response to the demolition of the Co-op Hall, a place which meant a lot to her younger self and many others.
Hard to single out an artist Anne is influenced by as there are many. The colours of Matisse and the Scottish colourists, Joan Eardley, Barbara Rae and so on.
Art Alert has been an important part of Anne’s life since its inception and continues to be a source of support, friendship and inspiration.
