THE CLEYMORE MOTLEY ART CREW

A co-operative of six local artists (Alison Dickson, Chrissy Bolton, Bob Kidd, Julie Langdon, Patricia Osborn & Sam Rafter), the Cleymore Motley Art Crew, meet together in the gallery space once a week to create, discuss, support, inspire & learn from each other. Each artist has their own unique style, focus & expertise. 

Their work will form the inaugural exhibition in the Gallery and will celebrates their coming together The Old Shop, giving them a creative home & allowing us to showcase local talent as well as the best of Norfolk. More details about the dates of this exhibition can be found on our 'What's On' page.

Alison is a self-taught florist who ran ‘The Village Florist’ in Watton High Street with her husband Stewart for fifteen years. After retiring, Alison taught herself to paint in a ‘non-conformist’ way as she prefers to explore mixed medium and experiment with watercolour, acrylics and pens rather than paint ‘by the rules’. Flora and fauna are her main inspiration but she is always on the look out for new ideas to make her own. Alison is a member of three art groups: Hingham & Hardingham, Wymondham, Weeting and leads the Cleymore Motley Art Crew. Her work can be viewed at Harrods of Hingham, The Dragonfly Gallery (Watton), and The Old Bell Pub (Salam Toney). Her painting has taken Alison on a continuous journey of discovery, an ethos she follows in life as well as art. 

Chrissy has loved making art since she was a child. She is well travelled and has taken her inspiration from the many cultures she has visited. Although not formerly trained, she has expanded her technical knowledge through numerous courses so she is able to express creativity and emotional intention in her art. Chrissy’s process is to collate source material and compose landscapes which appeal to the viewers emotions as well as their aesthetic. She works in many mediums but drawing and ink work is the foundation of her practise. Her pieces offer the viewer a window into her interpretation and intention but also invite a personal emotional reaction from her audience. 

Bob is an entrepreneur and self-made man. He started his first business at the age of twenty eight and enjoys working with and developing new talent through mentoring and training others. A successful butcher, now retired, he began wood-turning as a hobby, and started to source natural wood for his work, often using unwanted or discarded pieces in his creative practise. He enjoys exploring new avenues and learning new skills and is now experimenting with sketching and painting. His mantra is to celebrate what is created by nature but finished by hand. 

 Julie was born in Sussex and, at the age of sixteen, trained as a nurse. She married, became a mother and supported her husband’s professional training, living in Ireland and then later, Vancouver, Canada. It was on her return to the UK that she was encouraged to start drawing and painting by a neighbour. She joined an art group and focussed on botanical drawings. Winning a prize for most improved artist spurred her on to explore her creativity further. When she moved to Hingham she found her artistic home which has encouraged her to exhibit and sell numerous pieces of her artwork. Being part of the co-operative is the next step in Julie’s artistic journey, an opportunity that she wants to embrace fully. 

Patricia has always been creative and good with her hands, training at a hairdresser and later building aeronautical and other electrical equipment. In the 1980s Boy George and his band Culture Club brought a new sense of creativity and freedom to popular music which spoke to Patricia and inspired her to return to her own art. She enrolled in evening classes at Havering College which led to a foundation course at St John Cass School of Art and she completed a Fine Art BA at University of East London. She is greatly inspired by the Impressionists, especially Monet. Her passion is the freedom that her creative practice offers. Looseness of mark making, use of colour, abstraction and, most importantly, honesty. Her philosophy is simple, creating art makes you feel alive, it should speak to its maker and audience, a channel for authenticity. 

Sam trained and worked as a Primary School Teacher, graduating with a BEd Education & Art, so painting and drawing have always been part of her life and self-expression. Greatly inspired by fantasy fiction, especially the works of JR Tolkien, her illustrations are whimsical, embracing colour, pattern and texture as well as nature. Comical and fun her animals often take a humanistic form and can include darker elements, balancing reality with fantasy. She has a great affinity with all things Japanese and this is also often reflected in her work.

The Cleymore Motley Art Crew

will the first exhibitors at The Old Shop Pop-Up Gallery, Hingham on 9th & 10th May 2026.