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Open Art Tameside - an exhibition that displays the creative and artistic talents of local people - has drawn to a close at the Astley Cheetham Gallery in Stalybridge after a fantastic run throughout Spring and Summer. The exhibition attracted over 900 people in 2022.

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One local artist who boasted two paintings in the exhibition is painter Catherine Freeman. Catherine’s paintings depicted scenes in Kyiv, Ukraine.

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“The two paintings that I had on display at the Tameside Open Art Exhibition, The Fragility of Peace 1 and 2, were inspired by news broadcasts during the first two weeks of the war in Ukraine,” said Catherine.  

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“As I watched Clive Myrie reporting, he was standing on a balcony and behind him was a white tower with a golden ”onion” dome, which I later discovered was the bell tower of St. Sophia's Cathedral.  He showed a clip from a video of a missile attack on Kyiv the night before which showed an explosion in the distance behind the tower. My first thought was that it could only be a matter of time before a missile hit that tower and I immediately decided that I had to paint the scene before the tower was destroyed.

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“My second painting is of the Communication Tower on the outskirts of Kyiv which was hit on a bright, clear morning.  I chose the titles Kyiv - the Fragility of Peace 1 and 2 because although Russia had been amassing troops on the border of Ukraine for many months, the actual start of the war seemed to take the West by surprise. I think that because Europe had experienced peace for such a long time people had become complacent and did not realise how peace is a fragile state and that as history has shown us many times, it needs to be appreciated, nurtured and protected at all times and never taken for granted.

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“I have never exhibited any of my paintings before so this exhibition is a first for me. But I felt so strongly about the war and wanted to express something at a moment in time and the exhibition coincided with this.”

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“The paintings are quite a departure for me in terms of art as I normally paint watercolour landscapes and flowers - the exhibits are in acrylic which is a new medium for me.

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“Although I have always been interested in art, I only picked up a paintbrush seriously after I had retired from teaching History. I really only paint for myself and my walls! I began with urban sketching with the Urban Sketchers Manchester but now I run a City Sketchers group for mainly retired people. I have also sketched around Tameside and am particularly interested in the region’s old buildings.

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“Tameside has a number of independent art groups which meet in various venues.I belong to two, at the moment - the Flowery Field Group which now meets in the Moravian Church in Dukinfield and the “All Seasons” Art Group which meets at the Hattersley Hub and is led by Sheila Meeks, a local artist. I have also attended a group in Ashton and at the Bridge Art Gallery in Stalybridge. So, there is quite an active, if low key, art scene in Tameside and it is a pity that there aren’t more venues to showcase it but hopefully, as a result of Stalybridge becoming the Town of Culture, more events and venues will open up.

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“We may not all be able to afford famous artworks but we can support local up and coming artists by buying their very affordable and original works of art for our  walls instead of mass-produced prints.”

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Catherine’s City Sketchers group meets once a month in Manchester city centre to sketch.  To take part or find out further information, contact Catherine via email at chistory@live.co.uk

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Details for next year’s Open Art Tameside exhibition will be released early next year. Artists can email Portland.basin@tameside.gov.uk with their contact details to be added to the mailing list for updates.

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