The Southport Palette Club
Council Members’ Exhibition
24th January – 7th March 2026
Guest Blog by Martin Dawber
The Southport Palette Club will be welcoming in the New Year with a special exhibition by the elected members of its Council on show at The Atkinson in Southport.
One of the oldest surviving art societies in the region, the origins of The Southport Palette Club go back to 1921 when it was established by local landscape painter and Southport School of Art graduate, Percy Lancaster RI, ARE, RBA (1878-1951), to further the “professional interests of Southport artists by holding an annual exhibition of their works”.
Many of the Palette Club’s founder members were artists of national repute including Joseph Harold Swanwick RI ROI RCamA (1866-1929), best known for his ploughing scenes and other representations of farming life, and fellow academicians of the Royal Cambrian Academy, Henry Percy Huggill ARE, RCamA (1886-1957) and celebrated portrait painter, John Archibald Alexander Berrie RCamA (1887-1962).
They were headed by Southport born Club President, Philip Connard, CVO, RA, RWS (1875-1958), a post he held until his death.
The Council of the Palette Club remains self-perpetuating. When a member resigns, moves away or dies, the Committee nominates a new member.
The current Council consists of local artists, Peter Owen, Fred Sumner, Brian Lewis, Chris Hughes, Jane Hunt, Carole Dawber, Martin Dawber, Bev Bush, Sam Cookson plus Jemma Tynan representing The Atkinson.
Based at his studio in Birkdale, where he also holds his popular art classes twice a week, current Chairman of SPC, Peter Owen, has been a professional artist for over 45 years. Peter’s exhibited acrylic, “When Shadows Fall”, takes its title from the classic 1931 song ‘Home’: “I began this painting with my initial marks and strokes made using earth colours. These early stages then led to further layering using my full palette of 8 colours. At some stage a “landscape” or “figures” may appear, even a specific place is suggested.”
In tandem with his more personal studio practice Peter has also fulfilled diverse corporate commissions including those from The Savoy Hotel Group and Pilkington Glass: “For someone to appreciate your work enough to commission you to work on a project is a great compliment. Many of the industrial commissions provided me the opportunity to work in environments normally closed to most people. It has also provided me the opportunity to contrast the figure with sometimes a very harsh environment; the heat in a glass making plant; the steam and cold in a tannery; the noise of a cotton mill and the sound and confinement of a ship’s engine room.”
Originally from Bolton, Fred Sumner has equally built up a long-standing reputation across the region for his distinctive artwork: “I have exhibited widely in NW public and private galleries since 1960 and have work in private, corporate and public collections.”
His personal mantra has always been “good drawing stands by itself. Its evidence defines structure and supports the visual impact of a work of art.” His advice to other artists is “Whatever your choice of discipline make time to draw. Keep sketchbooks – catch the moment – scribble, scuff, splat and scratch your response. That’s when you start to draw, form a language, make a statement.” Fred’s exhibited artworks certainly bear out his personal modus operandi as in the soft pastel and charcoal ‘Statement 179’ which references “confrontation, interpretation, response, accountability and consequence”.
A graduate of Southport Art School in the 1950’s, Brian Lewis set up his own studio workshop following retiring from a long career as a senior academic at John Rigby Grammar School in Wigan. Dividing his time between mixed media sculpture, whose “results are a combination of an idea and the dictates of the material” and painting (“inspired by whatever life presents to me at the time”), Brian has since gone on to also exhibit extensively across the North West. His ambitious 12ft wide triptych on show at The Atkinson takes its inspiration from Southport’s iconic vintage open-air Sea Bathing Lake that was once a popular attraction of the resort: “Nearly everything begins with drawing. Occasionally I take a photograph using this as a reminder of a place or object but then through preparatory drawings and the progression of the painting, hopefully something very different evolves. If I’m happy with the result, I will exhibit it, if not the canvas is painted over and saved for another day.”
After a similar career in education, Ainsdale potter, Chris Hughes is today often found beavering away in his garden studio: “My output is small as I hand build all my pots using pinching, coiling, slabbing and modelling techniques. I make bowls, bottles, plates, lamp-bases and clocks. My forms are often sharp edged and finely balanced, the bottle forms frequently twisting as they rise. I incorporate features from the landscape on my pots. Mountains, streams and beaches occur frequently as do weathered doors, windows and stone walls”.
Also based in Ainsdale, Jane Hunt is an equally passionate advocate: “Although I have no formal art training I have always loved art. When I had the opportunity and time I took up art classes and immediately fell in love with painting. I am influenced by Impressionistic, Abstract and Modern Art and my own work is mainly conceptual using bright, bold colours.” The exhibited ‘Seahorsing Around’ is typical of the vivacity of Jane’s approach: “I like painting seahorses but with a colourful twist. The colours are calm and tranquil but with a little bit of sparkly glitz.”
Carole Dawber, who describes her time as a student at Liverpool Art School in the 1970’s as ‘magical’, was subsequently awarded a lifetime Royal Society of Arts Fellowship for her research into naturally sourced fabric dying. No stranger to pushing the boundaries of her craft, Carole is currently over-dying silk ribbons, shredded from recycled Indian saris, to generate her own personal fabric library that she later exploits in her embellished textile tableaux. “My love of fabric, texture, thread and colour has been with me throughout my career journey and now that I have gone full circle and am back producing my own work, it is even more essential.”
Former Head of Department at Liverpool John Moores University and author of over 10 art & design books, since retiring Martin Dawber from Birkdale has been enjoying ‘playing’ with clay as a chill-out from the demands of his regular day-to-day routine: “The tactile nature of clay not only presents me with physical challenges but also provides a mental workout that stimulates the endorphins in my brain to explore new ideas and perspectives. By channelling my creativity into something physical it allows me the freedom to express myself in a non-verbal way and because of the inevitable unpredictable disposition of the kiln gods, the rewards are always surprising. It’s never just about what I can construct with the clay but what the clay offers in return.”
A Graphic Design graduate from Manchester Polytechnic, Bev Bush has over 25 years of experience as a Background Artist and Illustrator with credits in both animation and video games ranging from Wind in the Willows, Dangermouse, Duckula and The BFG to games such as Mickey Mania, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Crash Bandicoot and Lego StarWars. A former Course Leader in Games Design at the University of Central Lancashire, Bev combines traditional drawing and painting alongside hand-printing and digital skills to create her evocative illustrations and prints: “I enjoy using ink and watercolour and I love mark-making and experimenting with printing techniques.”
An active and prolific maker, Sam Cookson, who also finds time to deliver classes at the Clayworks ceramic studio in Southport, employs a magpie approach to his own highly individual output: “Largely self taught across a few mediums, my work currently is a gestalt of ceramic sculpture and found-object assemblage with the intention of creating folkloric and macabre creatures. Often on the move, I hope to capture a sense of dynamism and progress through the promised adventures of these miniature monsters.”
Describing himself as from “a long line of shed dwellers and collectors growing up in the bizarre post-modern golden era of children’s toys and television”, Sam eventually discovered his love of vintage character art and cartoons crystallising throughout his years at art school culminating in his early work as a sculptor that took shape during his degree years at UCLAN. Sam’s featured “Gnome at Home” is a ceramic and mixed media creation – “a fantastical idyllic sculpture revelling in the idea of getting away from the modern sprawl, back into nature.”
- The Southport Palette Club Council Members’ Exhibition runs 24th January – 7th March 2026. Entry to the exhibition is free and The Atkinson, on Lord Street, Southport town centre, is open Monday through Saturday 10am – 4pm.
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