Paintings by Local Artists

When I showed the drawing of Vulcan Street by Trevor Grimshaw recently one of the comments on the post mentioned the Abbey Gallery at the top end of Market Street near the Dowson Road junction. I was passing there yesterday and noticed in the window some paintings by Owen Traynor and a few others of local scenes by other artists. This is a photograph I took which shows a painting by Owen Traynor of the War Memorial, one by him of the cottages at the top of Higham Lane and one of St George's Church by an unknown artist.

Charles C Smith

We've got a few drawings and paintings by Charles C Smith and on the back of some of them is this information about the artist. There are also little stickers showing his address as Mansfield Crescent, Denton.

'Tame Valley and Gee Cross Mill'

'Coombes Rocks'

'Hyde Town Hall'

No title on this picture, but I don't think it needs one

There's also no title on this picture, but it's in the Werneth Low Country Park

Owen Traynor

Although we've got a couple of pictures by Owen Traynor I didn't know anything about him till I started to put this post together. He has his own website, which you can access here and below is an extract from that site telling you about Owen.

"Born in Ashton-u-Lyne in 1934, Owen has always lived in Dukinfield. Took an interest in drawing as soon as he could hold a pencil and the fascination with depicting the things he saw around him has never waned. Educated at St Mark's School, Dukinfield and the County Grammer School, Hyde. Began painting seriously in oils at the age of thirteen when many of his subjects were taken from local scenes and he also experimented with more decorative and abstract themes.

After National Service in the army where he served in the Canal Zone, Egypt, he took a teacher training course at Bretton Hall College of Education, near Wakefield. This was a specialist college for art teachers. From 1958 he taught art at West Hill Sc hool, Stalybridge as head of Art Department and many of his pupils have retained their interest in the subject, quite a few becoming professional artists.

Due to an eye infection he had to abandon oil painting for a while and during this period a colleague gave him a set of watercolour paints to try. He took to this most difficult medium at once and the oil he was working on remained unfinished. He never tried oils again. He retired from teaching in 1985 to devote the rest of his time to painting and has been busy ever since. He held his first one-man exhibition in 1968 and his work has been in demand since then. He was the winner of the first Glossop Pro Loco Competition. In 1985 he won the Manchester Council/Manchester Evening News Painting Competition.

Has been awarded prizes by the Society of British Painters and the British Watercolour Society. Commissions have been completed for people throughout Britain and for Greater Manchester Police, Hyperlast, Barclays Bank and Manchester University to mention a few. Reproductions of his work have been published by Felix Rosensteil's Widow and Sons, London and Portfolio Fine Art, Manchester. His work was selected many times for the Laing Competition and he was presented with the Yorkshire Television Award for Painting."

These are the two pictures which we have have for several years:

Artist and Artwork

A while back I asked if anyone had drawings or painting by Hyde artists, Hyde seems to have been blessed with artist. Marjorie Robinson responded and has sent in 6 paintings 3 of which are her own. Enjoy.

By George Wain

Marjorie says - Mr Wain did it specially for me after I had seen a similar one in one of his exhibitions. In the original the fairies were wearing clothes but those in mine are not! Typical of his sense of humour! It used to hang by our phone but my husband found it somewhat distracting during a phone call so I had to move it.

By George Wain

This is a portrait in pastel that he did of my two daughters when they were young.

Owen Traynor

The third is by Owen Traynor, another of George Wain's pupils at Hyde Grammar. It is of Ashford in the Water. We bought it because some of my husband's ancestors are buried in the churchyard there. Owen is a member of the Royal Watercolour Society and well known in the area.

George Wain was Marjorie's art master at the Grammar School, and the 3 following pictures are her own work... thank you Marjorie for sharing these.

By Marjorie Robinson

By Marjorie Robinson

By Marjorie Robinson

The next 5 pictures are from Paul Taylor's archives... cheers Paul

 Gee Cross in 1901

By Barbara Sole (1988)

The Red Lion, Stockport Road Gee Cross in 1906

By Joyce Mills (1987)

Town Hall & Market, Hyde

By Jim Andrew

Holy Trinity Church, Gee Cross

By Barbara Sole (1993)

Hoviley Area sketch for painting

By I Blurton (1980)

  A, Ward’s cake shop corner George St & Hoviley brow

  B, Oldham & Fogg hat manufacturers

  

  C, Calico Printers Association (C.P.A)

   

  D, Butterworth’s Clog Shop

   

  E, Hoviley Methodist’s Church

If you would like to share other artwork by Hyde artists, or artwork of Hyde then please send it in and I can do another post.