Artists in a Bucks town celebrated the 'special' place the area holds in local people's hearts by holding an exhibition showcasing the area's talent. 

The Marlow Art Trail was conceived by resident artist Keith Clarke back in the spring of 2020 as an alternative way to showcase his work whilst galleries were closed during the lockdown period.

He put up a marquee in his garden to display some of his watercolours and pen-and-ink drawings and invited a few people on Facebook to stop by - over 100 people showed up and just like that, a local tradition was born.

Bucks Free Press:

The Art Trail now takes place three times a year, in May, August and November, and, during the warmer months, is held at three locations across the town, including artist Crispin Wride's impressive sculpture garden at Stratton House on West Street.

The August event took place over the recent Bank Holiday weekend and showcased a wide variety of talent from 11 local painters, potters and sculptors and, according to Bourne End-based painter Bee Skelton, was a "tremendous" success.

Bucks Free Press:

Bee, who displayed her brightly coloured 'Happy Paintings' at Tilecotes Close over the weekend, said: "People enjoy buying these artworks because they show places that are special to them and which they have good memories of.

READ MORE: 'The only affordable store' in Bucks town RETURNS in new location

She described Marlow as "an inspiring place", praising her fellow artists for their varied representations of the town, diverging in their abstractness and style but consistent in their high level of skill.

Bucks Free Press:

Keith reiterated the different perspectives displayed by each artist of the town, adding: "We are all different. My most popular works are of Marlow and I do a lot of pen-and-ink and watercolour house portrait commissions too." 

Susi London, who recently won Best in Show at the Cookham Arts Club's annual summer exhibition and had her acrylic paintings on show at the Marlow Art Trail said: "We've been lucky with the weather - they forecast a bit of rain and we did have a few paintings that blew over but that was the worst of it."

Bucks Free Press:

The artists had a wide range of their works on display at Tilecotes Close, Stratton House and 17 Pound Lane, with many selling their designs in the form of cards, prints, placemats and mugs alongside traditional frames and canvases.