Artist Statement
Sandra Orme is one of the North West's leading pastel artists who has developed innovative ways of working with pastels and charcoal.
She is inspired by the grand landscape tradition from JMW Turner to Alexander Nasmyth and applies contemporary pastel and charcoal methods to develop epic representational works that convey the terrible beauty of wild open spaces.
‘Nothing can be beautiful that is not true’ wrote John Ruskin. Sandra seeks to recreate the beauty of dramatic skies and moorland vistas. A beauty that is based on her perception of the truth of these moments in time and place.
She is a multi-award winner and has exhibited with UK's best pastel artists at The Pastel Society annual exhibition. She teaches pastels annually at The Ashmolean Museum and is an associate artist with the Unison Pastels.
Awards: Best Visual Artist, Buxton Festival Fringe 2009, Landscape Prize, Derbyshire Open 2009, Buxton Spa Prize 2016
Natasha Braithwaite
FaceBook NatashaBraithwaiteBlack and WhitePhotographyandDark RoomPrinting
A photographer and darkroom printer Natasha works only on black and white film; all work is hand printed in the darkroom utilising traditional techniques and light sensitive materials.
Inspiration is taken from the way the fall of light picks out the tones, textures and contrasts inherent within the landscape; Natasha works with film and traditional photographic papers because of the creative and sometimes unpredictable nature of the processes and materials; she continues to work on improving and refining her practices as well as increasing her understanding of the materials with which she is working.
All work is individually printed and from each negative Natasha will produce only one final photograph; this is a deliberate choice to reflect the work and process involved to produce a traditional silver print and also because through her photography she looks to create a piece of work which is in many cases unique having been individually processed and printed by hand.
In addition to her photography Natasha also explores and experiments with alternative photographic processes producing both cyanotypes and photograms; both of these processes originated in the mid 1800’s at the very beginning of photography and are created without the use of a camera.
Natasha is also a member of Peak District Artisans.
