Question: how have your education, teachers & peers — the life you’ve experienced since you left school — had an influence on what you do today?

Think back to 20 years ago… where were you?

Me? I was 18, in my final year of sixth form college. There I was, a few months left of school, dreaming about what I wanted to do with my life. I remember the visits to art college open days, the trawling through UCAS websites, looking at what qualifications I need to pursue this path or that.

I fought a battle between pleasing my parents and pleasing myself. I knew I was fuelled by creativity and curiosity, and because of that, in the end, I chose to go to The Art Centre in Liverpool to study an Art Foundation, instead of pursuing a career in law, like my mum wanted. Whether it was the right choice to make? I’ll never know. But it was the one I wanted and I’ve never regretted it.

Art has always been a favourite subject of mine. From being a little girl at primary school, with afternoons spent messing with pipe cleaner-related crafts and PVA glue, my big eyes glued to animated art teachers enthusing over how we could make our own bonfire night scene using only coloured oil pastels and a pencil, to group projects recreating fake L.S. Lowry sketches with my pals, huge wall-sized murals of Picasso’s Guernica and mini versions of ‘Serenade’ — his abstract nude with mandolin player by her bedside.

Georgia O’Keeffe. John Piper. Chuck Close. Jackson Pollock. Barbara Kruger. Cindy Sherman. Gillian Ayres. Helen Frankenthaler. Cy Twombly. Robert Rauschenberg. And so many more. All artists whose work had me fixated.

From those formative days devouring artists at school til now. I owe each and every bit of that inspiration, the stuff that lit a fire under me — and still does — to the creative people who shared their time, patience and enthusiasm.

Those who passed on their knowledge. Their carefully honed craft. Their joie de vivre. I owe it to them for the windows they opened in my mind and the 2B pencils, sticks of charcoal and lumps of graphite they placed in my hands.

Their sense of direction, encouragement, gentle criticism, and wisdom. The way their words and presentations erased all walls and opened up a whole new world of possibility for me, a young girl from Warrington.

Who knew where these formative years would take me or how much impact they would have on the next 20 years of my life? Growing from girl to woman. Moving from town to city and back again. From pencil, to camera, to iPhone to pen & paper, to social media, blogging, AI and beyond. The creative evolution never stops!

This afternoon, I took a trip into town to get my nails done. But when I arrived at my usual place, it was closed. Feeling a bit frustrated at this wasted trip, I wandered through town in search of another salon. Popping into a shop to get some keys cut and another to stock up on woolly hats for the chilly commutes down to London.

As I collected my freshly cut keys from the cobblers, I turned and saw a shop opposite. An art gallery, in fact. A pop up.

But this wasn’t just any art gallery. No.

There, in front of me, was my old art teacher. Mr Grimes. Painting away serenely in the window; seemingly oblivious to my sudden blast of nostalgia. I entered the gallery. Said hello. Re-introduciny myself. And then I looked at what he was working on.

From the huge canvas in-front of him emerged a familiar scene. My favourite village coffee van, Avanti, (yup! You can’t miss their smiling faces and the shiny silver airstream coffee van, nestled in the lay-by at Lymm Dam. If you’re lucky, and catch Carl the owner-barista on a quiet day, you might even get a word or two of wisdom or a life lesson to help you solve a dilemma. Very good relationship advice actually!

Anyway, back to the unexpected art gallery in Golden Square Shopping Centre, Warrington.

The exhibition is a real family affair, and is on until next Saturday 28 October 2023 only. ‘The Grimes Scene’ features Paintings by Contemporary Artist & Oil Painter, Colin Grimes, undulating Textile pieces by Janet Grimes & Photography by Peter Grimes.

Located temporarily at Technically Brilliant art gallery, it is free to visit and well worth a mooch. In fact, it is exactly the splash of creativity and cultural that Warrington could do with investing more in! hint hint…

Not only did I get to chat to the lovely artists— my former teacher Colin & his wife Janet — I also enjoyed sharing my own creative journey so far. Particularly how his teaching at Lymm High School had inspired my art college and university course choices, to entering art exhibitions, winning awards and embarking on other cultural endeavours and passion projects, such as my blogging and subsequent career path. I left feeling invigorated, desperate to pick up a small notebook and black fine liner pen and scrawl to my heart’s content — yup, truly inspired to tap into and reignite my creative streak.

We talked about how Janet & Colin fell in love at Leicester university. Both budding young art students with a love of purple jumpers and shared friends who turned into matchmakers — the perfect canvas for a life-long romance for two talented artists. I listened to stories which of their many travels, the reflections captured on camera in the likes of places such as Central America, Venice, New Orleans, Paris, and even closer to home in Lymm, Cheshire, that have inspired great works of art and helped shape each of their careers.

If you’ve got a love of art, know someone who has, have walls that feel a little bare and could do with some decoration, head down and see the Grimes Scene family exhibition asap. Plenty of beautiful works to buy and lots to feast your eyes on too! If you’re lucky, artists Colin and Janet will be there in person, creating in real-time.

Thank you for the inspiration, Mr Grimes, from me — and all of your past protégés.

Find out more about the artists at Technically Brilliant Art, Colin Grimes & Janet Grimes.

If you know of any great up and coming artists, exhibitions or projects that you think we should feature on the Lucie Loves blog, do get in touch for consideration, review or feature.

Thanks for reading! X

All exhibition photos shown were taken by me and feature works by the Grimes Scene artists Colin Grimes (paintings), Janet Grimes (textiles), Peter Grimes (photography)