NATURE IN THE FRAME Exploring

Above: Moonlight Flit, limited edition of just 295 copies worldwide, £595, 1145mm x 900mm including mount & frame (XL size). Other sizes available. Left: Kay Johns in her studio.

>> “If you don’t capture that, you haven’t done your subject justice,” she adds.

Ordinarily you’ll find both Kay and David pretty elusive, since their specialism is taking Kay’s art on the road. Happily they’ve been a little more available this year to those in the county, and have been able to enjoy raising Kay’s profile right here in Lincolnshire instead of doing so outside the county at the 40-odd shows they attend each year.

Ordinarily Kay reveals a new collection every January, and has recently created a range of greeting cards including Valentine and Mothers Day cards. This year though, she’s planning to release new artwork throughout the year, creating a compelling reason for regularly checking her website.

David left the RAF in 2005 to take over his parent’s business, selling artwork at country shows and craft fairs. Kay meanwhile had always enjoyed painting but instead threw her creativity behind upcycling furniture. Their eyes met across a crowded showground where both were exhibiting –separately – and the rest is history.

The two worked together selling artwork from other artists but when Kay’s work started to make an appearance in the marquees they set up, she soon became the flagship ‘artist patron.’

Today, the two exhibit at Agricultural Shows and Game Fairs throughout the UK for eight months of the year and now have two units; a Mercedes Actros and a Mercedes Atego lorry – the former an 18 tonne unit purpose-built for the couple by Mercedes –with the couple’s 40ft windproof marquee, and about 500 examples of Kay’s artwork on board. The couple set up a complete mobile art gallery wherever they go, with LED lighting, carpeting and enough room for the very many fans that Kay has.

Happily, Kay and David are really democratic when it comes to art, and believe that Kay’s work should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

The couple have prints, some limited edition work and exclusive original pieces too, with sizes ranging from unframed prints of 15cm square to framed pieces well over a metre in width. Accordingly, you can enjoy a giclée print for less than £40 or invest in a handfinished original piece, framed, for anything up to £5,000.

Kay produces both white work (slightly quirky style) and also a classic grown-up scenes with the subject set against a black background, which really creates a dramatic look.

“Every single piece begins with a walk around the Lincolnshire countryside,” says Kay. “Living here you can be just 10ft away from a fox cub, like a voyeur who enjoys the privilege of watching nature right before your eyes. There’s nothing like it.”

“I sketch all the time and the sketching process can often take as long as the painting itself. I work in fine black pen once I’ve a few ideas in mind and sometimes I overlay different versions to perfect a composition.”

“Once I’m happy I complete a final trace and then photocopy it onto acetate, then use a projector to overlay an image of it onto my canvas.”

“I work on mount board because it has a lovely flecked texture and I usually work larger than the intended prints are to be.” “I always start with the eyes as they’re the most important detail, and they’re really crucial to capturing an animal’s expression.”

“I then work around the eyeline and outwards, darkest tones first. It takes anything up to six or seven layers of painted fur to achieve the depth and realism I love, and I often take a step back to look at a piece not close-up as an artist, but from slightly further back, as the viewer.”

“Gouache has a wonderful depth of pigment, enabling white to paint over black unlike standard watercolour. >>

Top: Love Is… hare cuddling artwork. Hand embellished, limited to 195 copies worldwide. 335mm x 335mm, £89 including mount and grey distressed deep modern frame. Above: Bootiful, Norfolk Terrier. Hand-embellished, limited to 195 copies worldwide. 335mm x 335mm, £89 including mount and grey distressed deep modern frame.

Above: French Kiss, French donkey artwork, limited to 195 copies worldwide, 580mm x 720mm £295 mounted and framed (medium). Other size options available.

>> “I guess the whole painting process can take anywhere from 2 to 50 hours depending on the size and complexity of the piece. I tend to work on two or three pieces so I can allow one piece to dry whilst working on another.”

“From that we scan and digitise the artwork then decide which sizes we’ll produce or whether we’ll keep it as an exclusive original. I’m pretty prolific but I can sometimes sit on a proof for days before deciding. If and when we do produce prints, we’ve a state of the art nine-colour large format digital printer which can output colour corrected giclée prints on lovely 315gsm artist soft textured art paper. I often finish work with gold acrylic flecking which is a great way to emphasise movement and to add an intrinsic, hand-finished individually unique value to a piece.”

David, in addition to being a first-class logistics man, is also an expert framer. Ordinarily his entire year’s work consists of providing reprographic services to the business – printing and scanning – as well as framing work either to order, or as stock to take to shows.

One side effect of a slightly reduced number of orders from shows this year is that David has been able to accept framing commissions for customers’ artwork and memorabilia. Ordinarily the team are too busy and have to politely decline such work, but with thousands of combinations of mounts and frames, if you’ve a piece that needs displaying, or a piece of artwork that could benefit from modernising, David is certainly the guy you should have ‘in the frame.’ As it were.

Meanwhile, Kay returns to her easel and puts the finishing touches to a painting of a fieldmouse – a creature proving popular with customers right now – its cheeky expression makes it seem so real I could almost hand it a chunk of cheese. It’s alive with character… like the Lincolnshire countryside itself, and just like Kay’s artwork!

n Kay Johns is the Lincolnshire artist based at The Event Gallery in Threekingham, which offers viewing by appointment. For more information and to view Kay’s work, see www.theeventgallery.co.uk or call 01529 240529.

Images: Banger, the Sausage Dog; Heartfelt, and Chuckle Berries, all hand-embellished limited to 195 copies worldwide, £49 - £89.

Above: Heaven Sent, liver working Cocker Spaniel, limited to 295 copies worldwide, 610mm x 750mm, £185 mounted-only; £275 framed (medium). Other size options available.

Can local business owners steer their enterprises in 2021 and thrive?

The way in which they plan, with staffing requirements high on the agenda, will shape the way in which they can move forward successfully, says Wilkin Chapman Partner and employment specialist Oliver Tasker.

PRE-Christmas brought with it the full re-opening of shops and many local businesses, even for those of us who initially remained within the strictest coronavirus tier.

Hairdressers, beauticians, market traders and local gift and clothing retail outlets were amongst the businesses that were able to breathe a sigh of relief and look to a busy December and hopefully a bustling January, with some no doubt planning their annual sales.

On the other side of the coin, the demise of some of the largest High Street brands has been well documented and this region has not escaped those closures. A sad sight will certainly be the huge premises vacated by Debenhams on St Mark’s Street in Lincoln if the business cannot be saved. These struggles serve as a reminder of the way in which Covid-19 has accelerated the demise of some of the nation’s best- love department stores. Debenhams is not alone.

Whilst the ripple effect felt by such closures will remain and it continues to be extremely challenging for some, especially those within the hospitality and entertainment sector, we can perhaps take a glimmer of hope from recent figures published by grocery insight specialist IGD. Its study found that nearly a quarter of 18 to 24-yearolds said they had visited a local butcher, fishmonger of greengrocer in 2020 – up from 20 per cent in 2019. Could this upturn be the same for other local businesses?

Taking all the above into account, the complexities for many local business owners will be trying to predict the future, how busy their individual companies are going to be and organising their staffing accordingly.

Recruiting and retaining good staff may arguably be easier now with a larger pool to pull from, however it remains a priority for business owners to ensure they have the correct procedures in place – whether those new recruits are temporary or permanent.

Employment law remains firmly under the spotlight and in recent years there has been a move to further protect the casual employee or those on zero-hours contracts. Did you know, for example, that workers must have contracts of employment from day one, or before, and that stands for casual workers too. When considering short term contracts, owners must also factor in holiday accrual for such non-permanent workers. Add to that the planned increases in minimum wage from April and the end of the coronavirus job retention scheme at the end of March, and the importance of understanding and complying with employment law becomes apparent.

Here at Wilkin Chapman, we have responded to that need with the launch of Adapt HR, our bespoke employment law and HR advice line providing costeffective legal advice 24/7 for a fixed annual fee. It also allows businesses to tailor the service to their requirements, by adding valuable bespoke services such as targeted training for either owners or managers.

In developing Adapt HR, we recognise the challenges faced by SMEs going forward and the requirement for trusted legal advice when needed the most, as we work together to build again in 2021.

For more information, Oliver Tasker can be contacted on 01522 515987 or email oliver.tasker@ wilkinchapman.co.uk or visit wilkinchapman.co.uk