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Tuck into an artistic treat

Angela Kelly
7/ 5/2008

VISITORS to the Manchester Castle Galleries have been enjoying a mouth-watering experience – thanks to an unusual art exhibition.

Nostalgic sweets and toys from the 60s, 70s and 80s are central subjects for artist Sarah Graham’s photo-realistic collection of oil paintings.

And for Sarah, the city’s exhibition has given her a chance to see her originals in print form.

"It was a wonderful feeling to walk in and see my pictures," said the 30 year-old Hertfordshire-based artist.

"The prints were so good that even I was fooled by some of them!

"I always wanted to exhibit in Manchester and this has come at a really exciting time in my life."

Born and brought up in Hitchen, Sarah was an artistic child and received her first oil paints from her father when she was just eight years-old.

Throughout school she explored other media but was always "drawn back to oils" for their "buttery feel" and their "brilliant colours."

Sarah admits that her "obsession" with toys and sweets also began in her childhood.

And she has loved trawling sweetshops, markets, eBay and even her mother’s attic to find the perfect subjects for her paintings. She studied art in Leicester where she honed her skills in photo-realism, specialising in portraiture.

"But I’d plenty of subjects all around me with fellow students so when I left I really had to think again about my work," she added.

"I suppose I was influenced by pop art, by people like Andy Warhol and especially by Gerhard Richter, and concentrated on all the toys and sweets I had loved."

The result is highly-collectable paintings of iconic images like the Chupa Chups lolly, penny sweets like Black Jacks and Fruit Salads.

There is the ubiquitous bright yellow rubber duck, metal robots and Sindy dolls, and animated games like Cowboys and Indians.

These large works, however, did not come quickly.

"I work quite slowly and it can take me a month to paint one picture," she said.

There has been, however, the kind of genuine appreciation that has meant plenty of art-lovers willing to pay the £10,000 or so her originals command.

But, Sarah was also aware that she was, in that case, creating an elitist market and so was particularly happy to get together with Washington Green Fine Art Publishing to have her collection made into more affordable prints.

Now, at £375 to £535 each for her large print pictures, her entertaining creations are being enjoyed by a range of buyers.

"And I’ve got ideas to take me over the next five years – because you have to keep thinking, don’t you," she added.

The exhibition runs until the end of June. For information ring the gallery in Deansgate on 0161 839 3800.