Meet our Artists

Lonn Landis

Ceramic Artist 

Inspired by and made from our local landscape and seas.  Lonn creates beautiful hand-thrown functional ceramics which feature natural materials foraged from Wirral and Wales.  These materials celebrate the environments from which they come and quite literally embody the very essence of place.  Foraged clay is mixed with commercial clay to make each and every piece.  The glazes that Lonn has developed and crafted himself, utilise mussel shells foraged from Wirral beaches, and various rocks and minerals collected from the Welsh mountains as  some of their raw materials.  These natural materials quite literally connect each of his pieces to our wonderful corner of the world!

The process of gathering and preparing these materials is incredibly labour intensive and time consuming.  Crushing, grinding, milling and drying each material takes weeks using Lonn’s upcycled homemade equipment (including a repurposed treadmill!).  It is the antithesis to our fast-fashion disposable society where we barely consider what we consume.  For Lonn, each material is precious, hard fought for, and cherished on a whole new level.  

The glazes themselves are the culmination of extensive experimentation driven by Lonn’s background in the sciences – his degree is in chemical engineering.  The results are the wonderfully rich, colourful, tactile and sometimes drippy glazes that adorn his work.  

Christine Oliphant

Contemporary Artist

Christine is a local artist based in Tarporley Cheshire. She works in avariety of media, predominantly oils, and is interested in the effects of colour and light to convey emotion in a painting.

Inspiration is found in the memory of a glimpse of a place, the pattern made by light and texture, the balance of shapes and the emotional power of colour.

The subject is a starting point for explorations in paint and she works intuitively layering and modifying until she reaches a satisfactory outcome.  The environment and outdoor spaces are very important to her and her work is a celebration of the energy and dynamism of the natural world.

Christine has been involved in many collaborative and community based projects locally as well exhibitions. 

Dirty Hans

Contemporary Artist

Self taught contemporary artist Dirty Hans originates from Liverpool and is a popular figure within the contemporary art world . 

In his own words, he began painting to calm his hyperactive tendencies as a child and  took painting and producing his art seriously when he discovered the works of Roy Lichtenstein and Toulouse-Lautrec, both hugely influential figures for him and his personal development as an artist . 

Exciting travel experiences, comic books, the 1950’s culture and movies are also the impactful, visual stimulants that served to culminate in Dirty Hans’s  high energy, humerous and often topical genres of work, always with his distinctive personal twist on, what are now, hugely collectible pieces of modern art .

Clair Young

Ceramic Artist 

Clair is a ceramic artist living in North Wales.

Clair grew up in North Wales surrounded by animals and countryside which inspired her love of nature.

Clair always enjoyed art since childhood initially working in watercolours taking on commissions and exhibiting in art galleries and exhibitions including the North Wales Open Exhibition and The Lowry.

She studied Graphic Design at Wrexham University and recently returned there for a taster course in hand building in clay and was instantly hooked. From there, she continued working with clay and developing her beautiful style.

Clair draws her inspiration from the Welsh countryside and translate her observations of animals into her ceramic sculptures.

Amber Garfield 

BardicSpirit

Born and raised in Chester, Amber is an eco-artist whose work draws inspiration from the earth and beyond. With a passion for transforming overlooked elements of daily life, she breathes new life into forgotten objects and hidden details, offering fresh perspectives on the natural world. Whether it's painting on a piece of wood from discarded furniture or a matcha tin reborn as a tiny garden, her creations celebrate life, death, and everything in between.

Amber's connection to nature runs deep, guiding her to reuse, find, and restore materials, infusing her art with an ethos of sustainability and renewal. Each piece becomes a dialogue between the forgotten and the found, urging the viewer to notice what is often unseen in everyday life.

Growing up with Autism and ADHD, Amber’s journey has been shaped by a unique perspective that fuels her creativity. Art has always been her constant—a safe space where rules dissolve and imagination takes flight. From doodling on rented walls to sketching on science tables, her artistic expression flourished despite the challenges of traditional education. Leaving high school with a few GCSEs but a fierce determination, she embraced self-teaching. Influenced by icons like Bob Ross and countless late nights perfecting colours, Amber honed her craft outside the confines of formal instruction.

After years of experimenting, creating, and navigating life's twists—including a global lockdown—Amber’s dream took shape in the form of BardicSpirit, a vibrant expression of her artistic soul and eco-conscious values. Today, Amber’s art continues to invite viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the beauty in our world.

Red Betty

Illustrator  

Red Betty, also known as Leanne.

The artist behind the creation of the Natural Quirks collection..

For almost two decades leanne worked as an in-house designer in a variety of industries.

She left the Interior wallcoverings industry and started doing what she loved and desperately missed, painting.

With a feeling that the time had come to start her own creative journey , what then emerged was The Natural Quirks Collection. The Natural Quirks collection is inspired by Leanne’s passion for the natural world.

The illustrations are originally hand painted in watercolours and woven together with flora and fauna, using colour to bring fun and flamboyance to each piece. She considers her work as modern, because of its format of colour, design and painting style.

In her own words

“It holds very much the essence of Natural History Archives and our living world round us, to which us humans are naturally drawn to.”

Leanne has a desire to create something that the viewer could connect with, through characters and stories drawn from her own experiences. All the Artworks have a story to tell and it has been amazing how much viewers connect with the stories as well as appreciating the Art.

What she has learnt about her work and the stories is that they get people talking.

They are all personal to Leanne but for everyone to relate to and connect with, talk about and share.

It has the power to connect people and these shared stories have led to tears. 

Tom Horton

Portrait & Contemporary Artist 

Tom Horton is a Welsh artist based in North Wales. Mostly self-taught, his interest in painting began when he received his first set of paints at the age of 13.

Predominantly a portrait painter, Horton uses a palette knife to lay down thick swathes of oil paint. The human face has always fascinated him, and although he refers to his paintings as portraits, they are not in the traditional sense. Using AI and found photos as source material, he creates what he terms ‘fictional portraits’.

‘My aim is to paint a portrait that is open to interpretation. The viewer might think it depicts a celebrity, it might remind them of someone they know, or it could be that they just identify with the emotion on their face: ultimately, all of these are valid.’

‘Whilst I’m painting these, I myself am surprised by the faces that appear. I wonder who they could be and what they’re thinking. Sometimes I think they may even have some wisdom to share.’

Jason Thomas

Woodwork Artist 

Born and raised in beautiful North Wales surrounded by woodland and mountain terrain, Jason (also known as Jase to his friends) enjoys walking the hills and exploring the countryside with the family dog ‘Teddy’. 

During lockdown he bought his first ‘Lathe’. When on his woodland walks he would come across fallen trees and thought he would ‘have a go’ at turning the wood to give it a new lease of life to appreciate the raw, natural beauty. Jason’s ‘have a go’ attitude and self taught wood turning, create’s individual hand crafted items to enjoy for many years to come. 

p.s no part of any tree has been harmed during the making of these items. 

Greg Forster

Fine Artist specialising in portraiture

Greg Forster graduated from Swansea Metropolitan University in 1992, since then he has worked professionally as a London based freelance illustrator, and latterly in graphic design. Now based in his native North Wales, he uses the knowledge and skills acquired in those professions to shape his artistic vision.

Working in a mix of contemporary mediums, such as acrylic paint, ink, spray paint, marker pen, pencil on paper, board and canvas. Greg has blended his skills in graphics and illustration with his love of music and film to bring about detailed portraits that allow Greg to challenge boundaries and explore his own obsessions. Aside from famous rockers and movie stars, Greg continues to portray his family and friends and offers commissioned portraits in various media in mono or colour.

People and portraiture is central to Greg, although other themes that often recur in his work come from varying perspectives that include his love of his homeland of North Wales. There are many examples of work that include the welsh castles of Edward I, and other significant places of beauty that have a special connection and embody the love between him and his surroundings. 

His work is inspired by the events of his own personal experiences, showing people and places that have had a deep meaning to him throughout the years. Greg has a keen interest in philosophy and sociology, and has always been fascinated by characteristics, key life events, and situations which compose the essence of human existence that include love and loss, hopes and fears, fame, lust and power.

Ciaran Campbell 

Photographer 

Ciaran is a photographer who lives just outside Chester in the idyllic countryside of North Wales. He’s a dedicated photographer who enjoys finding and capturing unique perspectives in subject matter we often take for granted. 

Ciaran graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2000 with a BA Hons degree in Media Arts and Moving Image. After working in television production, before following a career in business and operational management. Ciaran continued to pursue his photographic passions on both a personal and professional basis including wedding and commercial photography. 

With a passion for the natural world and using aspects of architecture to accent and bring contrast and depth to our surrounding landscapes, Ciaran loves to draw attention to simplicity. Focusing on objects and views with a distinct style that frames them in an original and creative way, by finding a depth and perspective to the natural beauty of the immediate world around us.           

Beth Collins 

Needle and Felt Artist

Beth is a needle felting artist from North Wales, with a passion for creating art from natural fibres. 

Born and raised in Wrexham, her deep-rooted connection to the Welsh countryside has been a constant source of inspiration for her craft. Surrounded by the lush landscapes and diverse wildlife of North Wales, she has found enjoyment in the delicate balance between nature and art.

Needle felting allows Beth to breathe life into her artistic visions. Moulding raw, unspun wool into intricate and lifelike representations of wildlife animals and the flora that surrounds them. Her respect for the natural world is evident in each piece, blending her love for her homeland's wildlife with her passion for art. 

Sarah Dargan

Abstract and Digital Artist

Sarah is an abstract and digital artist from Manchester. Winner of The Princes trust, gifted young artists award 1994, She went on to study art at Salford university leaving with a BA Hons degree in design studies.

Colour and texture are her passion and absolutely anything can inspire her and usually in the most unlikely of places.

A 9-5 job and raising her family was Sarah’s primary focus for the last 20 years, however a recent spiritual awakening has led her to embark on a new artistic journey and  she is now relishing in all the new and varied possibilities within digital art. She loves creating unusual, striking and sophisticated combinations.

In Sarah’s own words ..

“Art can have a profound effect on our emotions, also inspiring, resonating and impressing, both artist and viewer. 

I feel ‘at home’ when I’m creating and becoming an artist is where I have truly found my purpose”