Meet our Artists

Marcia Crocombe

Contemporary Artist 

Co-Founder Oren Art Gallery 

A contemporary artist living in the heart of beautiful North Wales , Marcia draws on inspiration from literally anything ! Having worked for the first part of her career as a professional mural artist travelling the UK and Europe to paint large scale murals ,  Marcia’s working practice is wonderfully diverse as a result of having to adapt to each mural commission .  From painting 20 mtr seascapes to 2000 sq foot of funky hiphop style art , her current  subject matter is reflected in this in her now , gallery worthy contemporary art . 

“ I feel like I’m best described as a chameleon artist …I paint what I feel when I go into my studio depending on current influences and emotions . Sometimes fun and pop art style , sometimes moody , dramatic abstracts depicting the landscapes of places in my subconscious or special places I have visited. I feel no reason to limit my style to one particular genre when I get joy from so many styles of painting.

Marcia studied fine art at The University of Ripon and York St John , graduating with a BA ( hons ) in 1993 and now works from her home studio in North Wales with the occasional road trip across the UK for a mural commission .

Gemma Atkins

Illustrative and Graphic Artist  

Co-Founder Oren Art Gallery 

Gemma is a graphic designer, illustrator and artist from Wrexham in North Wales. She utilises a wide range of mixed media, including a collaboration of pen,  acrylics paint and digital tools. Gemma graduated from Wrexham University (NEWI) in 2003 with a BA Hons in Illustration. The experience gained in this field has underpinned her work ever since, combining graphics, illustration and fine art. 

Gemma’s love and enthusiasm for colour and design is shown within each style of her work, always experimenting with different limited colour pallets and schemes.Her unique and stunning style has developed from a strong background of illustration and graphic design, this knowledge of line and form underpins her initial drawings and prints.

Gemma’s particular niche is her monochromatic approach to a simple yet beautiful sketch. She takes huge inspiration from her surroundings and captures these scenes in a very illustrative and individual way. Her passion for drawing, print work and typography is a running theme in her work.  She is interested in expressing how different styles of line, shape and text can create distinctive and interesting appearances. 

‘I love the idea of capturing a place in my pictures that is special to a person visiting that particular area, then treasuring it at home to remember their time there.’

Johnny Vegas

Contemporary Artist 

The accursed blessing of ADHD. Johnny works across the medium of ceramics, print, found objects and the sense of evolution in all things, organic or manufactured, reclaimed by nature or stolen from and replicated in engineered form. The spiritual alongside the palpable. Do souls exist only in those that verbally communicate?

"What ADHD denies it equally blesses its host with. The sense of social inadequacy leaves time to find wonder, inspiration and tales yet untold in objects, shapes and constructions sometimes  taken for granted in nature and often in engineering endeavours. 

"I see something beautiful in a shape. Some folk don't get it, family or friends often make fun of my weirdness, but as a loner I've learnt to find beauty, mutual appreciation and ultimately inspiration from the inanimate. Solace in the visually discarded. I'm in no better company than when I glimpse a natural form or a lathe turned attempt to borrow from the genius and beauty of nature. I'm captivated by the background of a photo, not the subject in the foreground. My focus refuses to be dictated to by expectations. What people don't say but mime prompted me to write stories back in my performance days. The daily silent blueprint of human dndeavour sings to me. We reach for the stars yet yearn to prove to our gods that we can create a heaven ourselves here on Earth. We rebel. We are impatient creations in ourselves. We ignore the beauty of evolution as we strive for a perfection we believe we can rush into production. I want to keep a faithful, grateful record of silent achievement, not busy my head further by competing with it. 

Currently, flight, faith, fear of failure and broken/tested faith, are the subjects most fluent in my work. Emotional evolution and how best I can express that in 2 or 3d forms. A thought process, be it linked to hope or fear, captured in time. I've a head full of butterflies and all of them designed with unique intentions of distraction from the task at hand. When I think to exhibit I'm compelled to try and recreate in clay or oil what I've caught in my net that day...before it is once more set free to distract me from the hurried and sometimes ill constructed expectations of normality.

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.           

Juliet Stockton

Portrait Artist 

Juliet paints portraits in a distinctive, vivid style, with vibrant, acrylic paint and bold, energetic brush marks to capture the very essence, personality, and life force of the subject, aiming for the painting to almost leap off the page. 

Portraits to exhilarate, invigorate, and capture a moment in time, full of energy, life and joy to uplift your heart.  Juliet is inspired by; pop culture, fashion history and the rich, tropical colours of her childhood growing up in Papua New Guinea.  

Juliet ended up following the corporate pathway, despite her love of creating portraits since she could hold a pencil and spent a successful 25-year career in Human Resources.  But… she had ignored her intrinsic, creative heart for far too long when she realised that something important was missing.   So, a few years ago Juliet starting drawing again and taught herself to paint.  In 2021, she took a big leap, left her job in HR, and jumped in with both feet to follow her passion and become a full-time artist.  Now, immersed in a world of colour and faces, she’s found her true purpose in life and has never been happier!     

Juliet’s original paintings and prints sell internationally and she is now collecting celebrity clients.  Her artwork has been featured on BBC Radio, in Cheshire Life, The West Australian and published in Portraits for NHS Heroes book (Bloomsbury). 

Juliet is based in Cheshire and works from her studio on the Wirral.   

Jo Gough

Contemporary Artist

Cheshire born artist Jo Gough has always had a passion for painting. Growing up there was rarely a time when she wasn't drawing or painting, but she decided to follow a corporate career path working in IT for her local council for 30 years.

In 2016, Jo finally decided to follow her dreams and devote herself to full time painting, developing her own style with no formal instruction or training.

Landmarks, nature, flowers, trees and hearts are wonderful sources of inspiration for Jo’s artistic expression. Her work embodies a harmonious blend of realism and abstraction, inviting viewers to delve into the layers of meaning within each piece.

Having worked in Chester for three decades, Jo has a deep connection with the city’s history, culture and spirit. Her intimate knowledge enabled her to capture the essence of Chester’s landmarks and fill her work with a genuine sense of love and admiration for this wonderful city. 

Her love of iconic landmarks, flowers and vibrant colours have combined beautifully together to create nostalgic paintings of special places.

Jo is constantly pushing the boundaries of her creativity and her journey as an artist has been a continuous exploration and experimentation. Her love for colour allows her to infuse her artwork with vibrancy, energy and a sense of liveliness and she’s passionate about spreading positivity through her art.

She paints with acrylics using different techniques like blending, splattering or layering to create a highly textured and utterly unique piece and her original paintings and prints are sold internationally. 

During her career as a professional artist, Jo has been signed by London based card publisher Portfolio cards and the market leading contemporary art publisher The Art Group.  Jo was also commissioned by Chester Zoo to paint a bespoke animal range drawing inspiration from their zoo animals.

Jo works from her studio at home near Chester accompanied by her beloved dog Ted.

Eleanor McCormack

Jewellery Artist specialising in Polymer Clay 

El McCormack designs and makes colourful jewellery and crafts from her work space in Parkgate, Wirral. El studied Design at Liverpool Hope University and made the decision in 2022 to become a full-time artist under the name Design Eye Gallery. Her creations are born out of a love of colour, art and pattern. El works in a variety of mediums such as clay, crafting beads in vibrant colours and turning them into bold and beautiful jewellery pieces. Her jewellery also features colourful glass Millefiori and Murano beads, birthstones, crystals and pearls. El's decorative crafts include trinket dishes featuring vibrant decoupage designs, and paper crafts. El's work is inspired by trips to the world class museums and galleries on our doorstep, summer holidays, Ibiza hippy markets, books and family.

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. 

Nick Beedles

Contemporary Artist 

Nick is a contemporary painter from the Wirral. His work has often been described as Chaotic Expressionism, that fuses colourful imagery with abstract text, to create edgy wall art that builds a focal point in your house. Nicks work will be a talking point and a thought disruptor, when placed in an environment. Be Bold, be brave, be interesting. Words are powerful, but colour and form will change your whole day.

Tim Clough

Contemporary Artist 

Tim is a contemporary artist from the North West and has drawn and enjoyed art since early childhood.

His works are highly textured and employ bold form and colour, resulting in strong and impactful pieces. Exploring the theme of life and the fleeting nature of existence, they have an organic quality opposed to their strong construction and finish. 

Drawing on life experiences, fear, hope and love, he has developed his work and style and is very excited to see where it leads.

‘I love life and family, but I am definitely drawn to melancholy and for me my work is an accurate representation of that. But above all I firmly believe that a piece of art should be

interesting enough to grab your attention and engage you from the start, after that it is up to you to interpret it as you wish. Art can mean totally different things to different 

people and that is the way it should be, I think art is in the eye of the beholder’

Jennifer Barker

Glass Artist 

Jen has both made and lectured in glass art for over 30 years in the UK.  She runs Cheshire school of Glass where a team of professional glass artists teach all aspects of Glass art to budding and experienced artists at Jen's studio. She is also the creative Director of a glass design company that designs and creates architectural glass for interior spaces. 

Jen studied glass at both Wolverhampton and Staffordshire University to Masters level. She then went on to lecture in Glass Art at Wolverhampton,  Loughborough and Glyndwr Universities for 20+ years prior to setting up her own glass school. 

Jen's work is largely inspired by the patterns and structures found in nature; the marks left behind by transition and erosion on both land and sea play a large part in the pieces she creates. Both gloss and matt glass are used to emulate the way changing light can create atmosphere, depth, shadows and reflections. 

Jen combines glass techniques such as kiln formed glass, painting, print firing marks within the body of the glass using oxides, etching and media blasting. The glass is hand prepared and fired up to 900 degrees Celsius in a large kiln in her country barn conversion workshop and teaching studio.