artTRAIL
The Southend Festival Art Trail is back and bigger than ever.
For the whole month of the festival the shops, restaurants and businesses of the High Street will become art galleries, showcasing the local talent or new and emerging artists.
MEET the artists
Art of the Village
Carnival Art - giant puppets/Punch & Judy
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
Art of the Village is a Southend based community arts group. We regularly take part in Southend carnival and our creations are large and colourful. For 2018 we celebrated the seaside with giant puppets and a mobile Punch & Judy booth.

Jodie and Jack
Arts and Crafts
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
Here at RubenArt we make an array of arts and crafts ranging from mosiacs made by the wonderful Mr Ruben to Wands, Artificial Flowers and a spectrum of different paintings by Miss Ruben. Team RubenArt love being creative whilst promoting positive mental health. Miss Ruben lives with BPD, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Mr Ruben lives with CRPS, Depression and Anxiety. We both care for each other and our little therapy cat called Happy. @ReubenAltArt

Olivia and Logan
Youth Art
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
Olivia & Logan are two young artists displaying their art for the first time. They use different mediums and subjects as they develop their own style.

Andy Downes
Portrait
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
Portrait artist, loving the human face in particular expressive faces. Www.andydownesart.co.uk

Tanya Mimpress
3D collage models 1:6 scale
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
I volunteer at Southend Museums and make 1:6 scale 3D art. The model in example 1 won an award at this year's SOSAC exhibition.

Claire Bartlett
Arty crafts
VENUE 1
The Victoria Shopping Centre, Chartwell Square, SS2 5SP
Claire Bartlett is a local artist/crafter working in mixed media on a variety of surfaces. She is inspired by the natural and the stories we use to interpret it.

Nicola Cornish
Photography
VENUE 2
Greggs, 2 Southchurch Rd, SS1 2NE
I am a freelance photographer. For this exhibition I collaborated with local artists. I invited them to put paint onto a printed image. I am fiercely community spirited and enjoy engaging with other creatives and those people who enjoy the freedom that art brings.

Laura Conlon
Abstract
VENUE 3
Revolution, 8-14 Queens Rd, SS1 1LU
Laura Conlon local artist, Interior Design led back ground with a passion for colour, up-cycling and creating art work with floral designs & hearts. Works completed in acrylic. Self taught and enjoys the freedom to paint whenever the mood arises. @LEOPARDPRINTPAINT Made@94

Steve Lawes
Illustrator/Artist
VENUE 3
Revolution, 8-14 Queens Rd, SS1 1LU
Steve is a visual artist and poet inspired by psychedlia, mysticism and altered states of consciousness in general. He regularly exhibits in London as a member of the DIY group The Tunnel, and his work and merchandise has been sold across the world, including Australia, the United States and Italy.

Esme Taylor
illustrations
VENUE 4
That's Bizarre, 13 Queens Rd, SS1 1LT
Scarlett trained as a printed textile designer and now just love to paint! After teaching many students for years I long to keep my ideas to myself for a while ! I long to mix colours , and create again ! I'm constantly looking at colour, pattern and texture and get a wave of excitement in my stomach at the thought of getting my ideas onto paper/canvas/wood!

Julie Parker
Contemporary realism, painter
VENUE 5
Maxwells, 11 Queens Rd, SS1 1LT
I am a self-taught artist based in Benfleet and I am constantly inspired by the local coast and countryside. I enjoy painting in several genres, including coastal landscape, still life and portraiture. My work observes the intricacies and simple beauty of the everyday and explores the fragile beauty of the Essex coast. I use various mediums in my work but especially enjoy working with pastels.

Nicola Osborne
Semi abstract still life
VENUE 6
Lawrence Matthews Art Shop, 1 Queens Rd, SS1 1LT
I am interested in shape, texture and colour in the natural world. My focus has become based around circles and the shapes formed when they overlap.
What we find beautiful is in the eye of the beholder. This question can be applied to the humble dandelion. I find the dandelion clock the perfect vehicle for this idea. They are delicate and beautiful and yet are weeds!
As I have explored these shapes they have led more and more towards abstraction.

Eloise Birnam-Wood
Lino cut- printmaking
VENUE 7
Molo Lounge, 195-197 High St, SS1 1LL
Eloise Birnam-Wood is a linocut printmaker from Essex. Her work is informed by music, nature, folklore, and the Art Nouveau movement, among other influences. This is her third Art Trail. Www.birnhamwoodprints.com

Lily Sexton
Portrait
VENUE 8
Greggs, 100 High St, SS1 1JN
My work is mainly based on people/characters that present a sort of truth. Whether it's mad, wacky or funny, I feel I can often identify with them. It's often situations that make me laugh that capture me the most.

Alex Horn
Portrait
VENUE 9
The Pipe of Port, 84 High St, SS1 1JN
Alex Horn has always been interested in Art and enjoys portrait work. He loves to explore with colours and shapes.

Forward Motion
Photography
VENUE 10
Southend Central Train Station, Clifftown Road, SS1 1NR
The ForwardMotion South Essex campaign encourages Active Travel to aid healthier bodies and greener counties.

Andrew Armstrong
Landscape photographer
VENUE 11
McDonald's, 72/74 High St, SS1 1JF
I am a landscape and wildlife photographer based in Southend. I really enjoy photographing along Thames estuary from East Beach to Leigh-on-sea .

Betty Simon
Painter
VENUE 12
Greggs, 67 High St, SS1 1HZ
Betty is an artist that covers a wide range of topics- depending on her mood!

Jade Oram
Contemporary figurative Painting
VENUE 13
Greggs, 67 High St, SS1 1HZ
I am an art student (in my second year) at the London metropolitan. Insta: /jaded_years

Karen Maw
Modern Art/Experimental
VENUE 13
Waterstones, 49-55 High St, SS1 1HZ
I am an amateur artist with a love of working with mixed media, and the majority of my work represents my feelings and opinions on life's struggles, strengths and discrimination. Art is the ultimate platform that brings all types of emotion and joy in some way to everyone. It is the one aspect of all our lives where colour and diversity are accepted, and only judged in the simple 'like or don't know like opinion', without hate, or the need to voice hatred.

Bonnie Blueman
Lino Cut
VENUE 14
The Alex, 53 Alexandra St, SS1 1BW
Mixed Media Artist working in Lino Cut, I Am Creating a New World With in My Art.

Victoria Sills
Painting, drawing, printing
VENUE 15
Royal Fish and Chips, 25 High St, SS1 1JE
My work holds drawing at its foundation, most recently it has explored mixed media including painting and printing. Although the work can appear minimal, there is a sense of strong emotion to it. Www. Victoriasills.com insta: /victoriasills

Julia Hart
Acrylics
VENUE 16
Havens Hospices, 65 High St, SS1 1HZ
As an artist I use acrylics, inks, pens and pastels individually or together in vibrant colours filtered through the kaleidoscopic lens of the mind's eye and the heart's sensitivity to create the image afresh. Insta: /julestwoharts Facebook: @jules.t.art

South Essex Photographic Club
Photography
VENUE 17
Utopia Coffee Lounge, Heygate Ave, SS1 1DQ,
South Essex Photographic Club are a collaboration of photographers that met through the Echo Camera Club South Essex just over a year ago. We meet regularly and host different events to share our individual skills, knowledge and photography with the group. We range from hobbyists right through to photographers with many years’ experience under their belts.

Paul Karslake
Painter
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
We have added the celebrated Paul Karslake into the Art Trail with Leporum Fisher - the launch Hare for the very exciting Hares About Town project in association with Havens Hospices Award winning artist Paul can never be said to conform to the preconception of an artist struggling for inspiration and full of self-doubt but instead brims with inspiration and enthusiasm. A strong believer that grim determination is a prerequisite to success in any field, he has chosen to beat the trend and become a successful artist who is able to enjoy the fruits of his labour in his own lifetime. The secret of his success is simply: Stick to what you are good at. to find out more about the Hares project visit

Paul Tansley
Abstract painting
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
I am a painter and graphic designer, and starting painting again after working in London as an art director for over twenty years.I moved to Southend in 2017, and have seen my work change and be influenced by my new environment. I have taken much inspiration from moving to the coast, the sea and the sense of space and scale, the huge sky, and escaping from the city. My paintings are abstract, and explore the boundaries that we force ourselves to live within.

Bronwyn Oldham
Floral Fine Art Photography
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
Since graduating with a Media & Photography Honours Degree from De Montfort University in the mid-nineties, the medium of photography has undergone a complete digital revolution. However I like to use my camera more like a paintbrush, concentrating on using a soft focus and short depth of field, to develop a more painterly effect within my work.

Sharon Stone
Abstract/landscape
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
My art is about being experimental and diverse, about the forms that I achieve with complimentary colours and mixing different mediums that work against each other website is
And my Facebook page is
Sharon Stone Art
Instagram is
@sharon_stone_art
Twitter is
@SharonStoneArti

Lee Miller
Pencil portraits
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
I am 40 years old. Art is my hobby. I have 2 children and a wife all with long term illnesses so that and working full time takes up most of my time so I draw when I can as a way to escape .

Izadora
Photography
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
Izadora is 16 years old, and has recently finished her GCSEs. Since she was 13 she has embraced photography and it is now a passion- in particular portrait work. Something that she wants to pursue as a career. This collection of photos were taken from a recent trip to India- and shot in Goa, Dehli and Agra.

Rosalie Bottley
Painting with acrylic
VENUE 18
Utopia Coffee Lounge, Heygate Ave, SS1 1DQ,
My main inspiration is nature and I like to try to capture on canvas the beauty and wonder of the natural world that surrounds us, the vibrant colours and textures it gives us everyday. I am particularly drawn to British wildlife being fortunate enough to have spent my childhood in a village surrounded by it. I aim to capture the essence and being of the creatures, landscapes I paint. I like to show people what I see and how I feel through my artwork. Facebook: artworkbyrosaliebottley

Project 49
Mural/ Street art
VENUE 18
The Royals Shopping Centre, High St, SS1 1DG
Following on from the success of last years art video installation challenging viewers perceptions of people with learning disabilities, Project 49 is back with a large scale artwork entitled 49 Reasons as part of their ongoing #recogniseusproject49 campaign.

Violette Dooley
Art of all kinds
VENUE 19
The Park Inn by Radisson Palace, Church Road, SS1 2AL
Studying Art, Art History and creating art has always been a passion. Over the past three decades I still find myself searching for my own aesthetic response in making art. Abstract is my passion. I love using bold vibrant colours and am drawn to paring down images until the art speaks for itself.

Sophie Thomas
Painter
VENUE 20
Seven Hotel, 7 Clifton Terrace, SS1 1DT
Painter of brightly coloured, expressive, abstract seascapes. Insta: /sophiethomasartist

Dave Taylor
Sculptor
VENUE 21
Gleneagles Guest House, 5-6 Clifftown Parade, SS1 1DP
Local Sculptor that creates beautiful items from everyday junk.

Charlena Bonham-Dare
Painting
VENUE 21
Gleneagles Guest House, 5-6 Clifftown Parade, SS1 1DP
I am an abstract painter and sculptor who is inspired by the environments that surround us, by abstracting the imagery I try to create an atmospheric response in the paintings, while also exploring the emotional links between colour the work expresses the balance of human emotion within society and how my ideas portray a fundamental connection and can evoke a diverse, idiosyncratic responses.

Naomi Padbury
Fine Art
VENUE 21
Gleneagles Guest House, 5-6 Clifftown Parade, SS1 1DP
Naomi is a self-taught artist who specialises in portraiture. She has nurtured a love of art since early childhood and in 2017 begun to explore coloured pencil which now forms the basis of the majority of her work.
Find Naomi on:
Instagram @naomi_draws
Facebook @Naomi Draws: Pencil Art
Twitter @DrawsNaomi

Deborah White
Seascape Photography
VENUE 22
Southend Pier, Western Esplanade, SS1 1EE
A Londoner now living on the Essex coast in Leigh-on-Sea, I am an abstract artist and photographer constantly inspired and amazed by the colours created by the fluctuating tides, the sky and the changing light of my surroundings.
My current series of photographs are a long-running diary of these discoveries and experiences.

John Pearman
Photography
VENUE 23
The Borough Hotel, 12 Marine Parade, SS1 2EJ
I am photographer based in Old Leigh. I take full colour photographs and frame them in two sizes.

Paul Alcock
Painter
VENUE 24
Holiday Inn, 77 Eastwoodbury Crescent, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6XG
Paul Alcock is based in Southend on Sea. The local environment plus a few trips further a field have provided the main inspiration for his impressionistic paintings over the last few years. Paul enjoys creating works which celebrate life beauty light and colour in the world around him.
