Southport Contemporary Arts ‘I’m not a one-trick pony!’ – solo exhibition of artwork by Angela Birchall best suits the subject. I usually draw pet portraits in pastel but prefer to paint people portraits in acrylics. With watercolours you can get a wonderful translucent quality while oils have a jewel-like richness of colour as well as the thick, impasto texture that is so tactile. Acrylics is the most versatile, it can be used to mimic both watercolours and oils and is my most ‘go-to’ medium for landscapes”.
Angela painting Adios Armada
‘A one-trick pony!’ is certainly not an epithet that can be applied to Southport professional artist and mentor, Angela Birchall, who has more strings to her bow – or brushes to her palette – to exhaust the most fervent practitioner.
from landscapes, portraits, birds, animals, flowers and still life, I need to be able to use whichever medium
Although currently living only four roads away from where she was born in Southport, from the ages of 3-18 she grew up in Africa: “Growing up in southern and central Africa was absolutely amazing and gave me my love of landscape painting - the vast open landscapes, the incredible African sunsets, the amazing wildlife and the opportunities that you had. I played with more big cats than I did little domesticated cats!” Angela has lasting memories of her formative years of art training
I
paint in acrylics, watercolours, oils, tinted charcoal paint, metallic watercolours and Brusho, while I draw in pencil, charcoal, soft pastel and oil pastel and even burn my designs on wood with pyrography. Each of these media has its own qualities and will create effects that you can’t get in another medium. Not content with her regular commissioned artwork, she also offers face-to-face classes in painting and drawing as well as currently providing two online teaching programmes, ‘Landscape painting in acrylics’ and ‘The Art of Stress-busting’. The success of Angela’s broad portfolio is the result of carefully pre-selecting the best media to best benefit the finished artwork: “Because the subjects I create vary
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LANCASHIRE & NORTH WEST MAGAZINE
Swan family 2022
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