Trio prove artistic flair runs in family at library exhibition (From Echo)

Trio prove artistic flair runs in family at library exhibition

10:00pm Friday 6th August 2010 in

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THEY’RE phrases we’re all familiar with. Like father like son, or like mother like daughter, yet in the Harwood family it might be better to say like father, like son, like granddaughter.

It seems the creative similarities in this Leigh brood run one generation deeper than the norm.

John Harwood, 69, his son Phil Harwood 43, and John’s granddaughter Jemma, 20, are all displaying their artwork at one exhibition this month.

Titled Three Ages in Art, it features photography and paintings from the three family members, and runs at Southend Library, in Victoria Avenue.

“It was originally supposed to be an exhibition for myself,” explains John, who has been painting for ten years.

“But I knew Phil had come back from a trip and wanted to show his photos, and Jemma had some too.

“They both jumped at the idea.”

John, a retired sales businessman of Crescent Road, Leigh, has contributed portraits and some landscapes, all painted using oils. His works include landscapes of Old Leigh.

Jemma, who is the daughter of John’s oldest son Simon, will be displaying a number of photographs taken using different methods.

The student is studying for a degree in digital animation at the University of Hertfordshire, and lives in Olive Avenue, Leigh.

Her photographs alternate between analogue and digital, and she often transposes two images on top of each other, with unusual results.

Phil’s photographs involve less trickery, but are no less special.

An avid explorer, he spent five months canoeing the length of the Congo River, in central Africa, documenting the people and places he encountered on the way. His shots include native fishermen and villagers, who had never seen a white person before, let alone a camera.

There are also photographs from a trip to Canada, made by Phil, who lives with his father and works as a personal development instructor at the London branch of Fairbridge, a charity for disadvantaged youngsters.

“I think my son and granddaughter think my work is pretty good, but they would say that,” says John.

“I’m so proud of Phil’s photographs, and I was shocked at how good a photographer Jemma is.

“The exhibition is a snapshot of three different generations of artists.

“You don’t often get to see photographs of villages along the Congo, sitting alongside images of fairies in trees.”

Work by all three artists will be on sale during the exhibition, ranging in price from £13 to £300. Three Ages in Art runs at the library until August 18.

Entry is free and opening times are 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays.