[A]ward-winning painter Lawrence Coulson is offering art lovers in Cumbria the chance to help him create his next piece of work this bank holiday weekend (AUG 26).
Lawrence, 55, will set up his easel and palette at Treeby & Bolton art gallery in Keswick and invite people to come forward and contribute their own brushstrokes to the blank panel.
The self-taught landscape specialist failed O-level art at school but his original paintings now sell for thousands of pounds and have earned him several Fine Art Trade Guild awards.
His visit to the Lakes on Saturday afternoon is the only Cumbrian date on a UK tour to coincide with the release of a collection of six signed limited edition prints this summer called A Darker Light.
Lawrence said: “I’ve turned up the volume on the colour so it almost jumps off the walls. The pieces are very atmospheric. I’ve had grown men moved to tears, which is very humbling.
“I got a grade D for art at O-level but maybe I wasn’t that motivated back then. And if I had done better and gone to art college, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now. They’re all doing digital media or digital art.”
Copies of his latest work will be on sale from £395 at the Lake Road gallery and cafe where Lawrence will also be starting work from scratch on a new oil painting – with a little help from the public.
“I’ll invite people to have a go at painting with me. It adds a bit of theatre and gets people involved. I won’t get anywhere near finishing the piece but I’ll take it back to the studio and if they are keen, they can buy it as their own piece of work. At every show so far this summer, the piece I have done in the gallery has sold to a person who has worked on it,” he added.
Lincolnshire-based Lawrence will be at the Treeby & Bolton gallery on Saturday from 12 noon-4pm. Manager Libbie Barton said: “We are all really looking forward to Lawrence’s visit. His work is fantastic and it should be great fun for everyone to see him working at close quarters here in the gallery, especially for those brave enough to have a go at painting with him!”
For further information, contact the gallery on 017687 72443 or at [email protected] or go to www.treebybolton.co.uk.
