A Liverpool artist has used the River Mersey as the inspiration for her first major solo exhibition.
Claire McCarthy has created 73 pieces of work for ‘Expressive Art on the Mersey’, which will run at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum until May 21 this year.
The Croxteth-born artist embarked on an unprecedented art experience, boarding Mersey ferries and landing stages with her easels, watercolours, canvas and paints, challenging herself to build a new portfolio from ‘plein air’ painting.
Its resulting work captures the turbulent and restless nature of the River Mersey as well as its beauty, natural rhythms and serenity.
Canvases and watercolours depict views of the river, the maritime industries and the historic Mersey Ferry crossing.
Claire said: “Painting from the Mersey Ferries and landing stages was a wonderful experience.
“It was great meeting ferry captains and crew – true mariners with such wonderful knowledge about the river and maritime community.
“I challenged myself by painting on the bow of the boat or sitting on the bridge or upper deck. Wading through the Mersey tide whilst working on board was extraordinary – sometimes tough but always exhilarating.
“Every time I came away from the water I felt elevated and inspired.”
The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead has a long association with the maritime industry since its original building back in 1928.
John Williamson, a director of the Cunard Steamship Company, helped fund the gallery, which has on display a large collection of ship models including Cammell Laird.
Curator Colin Simpson said: “Claire approached the Williamson about her paintings as she thought they were a good fit for our gallery and we were presented with this large body of work that was crying out for an exhibition.
“The paintings vary from big bold canvases to watercolours which are mere wisps of colour, extremes that reflect the range of life and experience on the River Mersey in all its moods.”
This is not the first time Claire has exhibited her work; in 2012 her painting ‘Council House Window and Kitchen Sink in the Morning’ was accepted by the prestigious Mall Galleries Threadneedle Prize Exhibition.
Claire originally majored in fine art at Liverpool Hope University and later completed a post-graduate degree at Liverpool John Moores University, qualifying and then working as a teacher.
While working as a teacher she also produced works of art and her work included a piece she sold to the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. She left teaching to help care for her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2009.
In the last few years Claire has relaunched her career as an artist and was inspired to produce this latest exhibition after listening to The Ship, an album by music artist Brian Eno.
She added: “It wasn’t until I started producing these works that I realised the strong connection I felt to the river and the maritime industry.
“My father was a hardworking docker who grew up close to the river on Great Howard Street, and his father, my Grandad McCarthy from Cork, Ireland was a bosun.
“He had a taste for the sea from an early age, stowing away on a ship at age of 12 – he didn’t come back for a year.
“The river is so powerful and a gateway to so much life – to our future and our history. It is a source of energy and renewal for all of us in this city and I will continue to explore its beauty.”