7:10am Thursday 26th November 2009
By Janine Dyer
An artist is promoting talented residents in her gallery.
When Samantha Wells’s husband opened a shop in High Street in August, she was tempted to use the vacant space upstairs as a workshop.
The 36-year-old from Shirley, who has a BA in fine art, had not painted for seven years and wanted to get back into her work.
But she soon realised there were very few places where artists could exhibit, so she set about creating the gallery, with the help of her three children.
Mrs Wells said: “There is a huge barrier between being an artist and having somewhere to showcase your work in Croydon.”
It inspired her to start painting again and at first her work was the only exhibit.
But that soon changed and there are now regular displays by an eclectic mix of artists such as Patrice Shema, an artist from Rwanda, and Lynlee Messenger, a fine art graduate.
There are also exhibits by artist Julie Beresford, as well as author Michael Jones, whose drawing is on show.
Will Armstrong, winner of the Britian in Bloom photograph competition, credits Mrs Wells with giving him the courage to show his work to the public.
He said: “I would not have approached a gallery normally but I’ve known Samantha for a number of years and she kept encouraging me to put up my work in the gallery. She gave me the confidence to show my work.”
Mrs Wells said: “The idea is to showcase rising stars and give them a chance to show and sell their work.
“I want to help people purchase art by real artists that is in their price range.”
Prices range from £10 to £50 and a website will soon be available.
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