Ongoing exhibitions at MASA-UK Art Gallery
Christine Southworth

After a rewarding and successful teaching career I took early retirement to fulfil my ambition to become a professional artist working from my own studio in the North of England and in a studio I have in Canada. Several years ago I joined NEO Artist Print Studio;I work there most days producing etchings based on my research and travels. I like to work from life, developing unique interpretations of human and natural forms.
My main passion is for drawing, drawing helps me understand the world I live in and is a natural progression to etching. My favourite material to etch on is copper but I do use zinc and solar plates are ideal for any collage based designs. During my career I have been in many exhibitions: Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, The Royal Birmingham, Manchester Academy and many others. My most notable commission was for Diana, Princess of Wales.
I have recently been awarded full membership of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, and Society of Women Artists. I received the Barbara Tate Award in the 153rd SWA Annual Exhibition.

Christine Southworth
Title: Ravenglass 4
Media: Oil on board
Christine Southworth
Title: Girl in Hat 2
Media: Oil on canvas

Christine Southworth
Title: Freedom
Media: Oil on board

Christine Southworth
Title: Calmness
Media: Oil on board
Heather Burton

Heather is a Yorkshire-based artist specialising in palette knife work in acrylics, oils and mixed media. I love capturing emotion and movement in figurative painting and reflecting the depth and diversity of the UK’s extraordinary landscapes.
She comes from a family of keen amateur painters. "My mum studied at the Grimsby School of Art while my father discovered his skills in watercolour painting in his late Seventies". Family commitments and a full time career in journalism left little time for drawing and painting until our daughters left home. Since then it’s taken off in a way I could never have dreamed of and I now work as a professional artist as well as continuing to write for national and regional magazines.
When not in her studio I East Yorkshire, Heather works as a magazine journalist, writing about homes and interiors for national publications.

Heather Burton
Title: Five Minute Break
Medium: Mixed media on canvas

Heather Burton
Title: Rock
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Heather Burton
Title: Focus
Medium: Acrylic on canvas

Heather Burton
Title: Carousel
Medium: Mixed media on canvas
Mark Beresford

Originally a water-colourist, Mark’s most recent discovery of oil now provides the perfect medium to capture mood and atmosphere of sea, land and city subjects. He likes to pursue subjects that evoke atmosphere, light and ultimately give that ‘sense of place’. Having grown up in the City of Sheffield UK, Mark has always been fascinated by it’s vibrancy and busyness. A reflection of many childhood memories of rain and glimmering lights add to his work. His great escape ………the Isles of Scilly reflects the white sands, blue seas and sheer tranquility of the beautiful isles. Images of which are produced following endless hours of watching rather than study.
Mark is currently exhibiting in several galleries including London, Cotswolds, Peak District, Berwick on Tweed and Truro. and has most recently had a collection of works in the Spring Affordable Art Fair , Battersea, London and the Fresh Art Fair, Cheltenham Race Course.

Mark Beresford
Title: BenthamTower II
Media: Oil on canvas board
Mark Beresford
Title: Moorland Solitude
Media: Oil on canvas board
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Mark Beresford
Title: Towards Deansgate
Media: Oil on canvas board

Mark Beresford
Title: Central Library Manchester
Media: Oil on canvas board
Mike Robinson
Mike Robinson
Title: Flying Over
Media: Acrylic on box canvas
Mike Robinson:
Title: Spinning Too
Media: Acrylic on box canvas
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Mike Robinson
Title: Over the top
Media: Acrylic on box canvas
Mike Robinson
Title: The Birdman
Media: Ink on paper
John Dean

I think I have the soul of an artist and the heart of a scientist - or is it the other way round? Perhaps it is better to see them as two sides of the same coin, and in my mind, feeding off each other and giving each other meaning.
After my school and college years I took a break from any idea of further education, but I always knew I would end up with a degree in science, notably physics. I also understood that my principle skill, the talent I was born with was that of an artist, and as much as I ignored it, it was never going to go away. I always saw it as a ‘dark calling’.
I call it that because I find it easy to do faithful figurative drawings, but I am driven to create something more abstract and imaginative. My art to date is trying or struggling to find a balance between the skill of figurative art and dynamic surreal imagery, but there still is the need to capture deeper meanings and give life to my personal philosophies.
Much of my art is concerned with resurrecting the gods. I love the classics and I am fascinated by how the classic gods seem to be personifications of all our drives, emotions, ethics and skills. I muse over how their stories played out on their celestial stage is manifest in our everyday lives.

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John Dean
Title: The Swamp
Media: Oil on canvas

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John Dean
Title: Pleidean
Medium: Drawing

John Dean
Title: Demetier, Gates of Hades
Media: Acrylic on canvas

John Dean
Title: Aphrodite
Media: Watercolour
Hanna Solena El Azzabi

As an artist, I try not to be a passive part of this system. I tinker and shape composite images. I mix mediums and references. I reconstruct meaning through fragmentation at the borderline between the real and the imaginary.
First I deconstruct and then I rebuild, using images which, taken out of their context are no longer sacred but mundane. I always start by collecting bits of materials from video games, movies, and the news to create a new composition inspired by an imaginary picture issuing from popular culture and that I keep in mind throughout the whole process. This obsessive picture had struck me at some time in the past and now it fits in well with the new context I have chosen for it. To me, everything begins and ends with popular imagery, this great nebula which has shaped us and that we then contribute to shape in our life time.
Hanna El Azzabi
Title: Blue Reflection
Media: Oil on canvas
Hanna El Azzabi
Title: Watching from the sky
Media: Oil on canvas
Hanna El Azzabi
Title: Western Pyramids
Media: Oil on canvas
Hanna El Azzabi
Title: Flesh and Steel
Media: Drawing
Nigel Stewart

Born in Bury, Lancashire in 1965, Nigel passed his B.A. then M.A. Distinction in fine arts at Northumbria University between 1984 and 1992. It was also in 1992 that he moved to Normandy. Since then he has pursued his vocation as a professional fine artist, exhibiting regionally and in the UK and Germany. His work is found in public and private collections in France, the UK, Germany, United States and Canada.
Nigel’s artwork has a strong emphasis on the human figure, the portrait, and the emotions of the human condition. An interest in memorials and his work in history find their way into some of his work. His approach is increasingly rooted in a traditional approach to studio drawing and painting and the renewal now increasingly seen in the ‘Atelier movement’ - of a return to fundamental principles of crafted artwork techniques, which had been somewhat lost in the latter part of the 20th century.

Nigel Stewart
Title: Grace
Media: Oil on canvas


Nigel Stewart
Title: The Girl with a Pearl Earing
Media: Oil on canvas

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Nigel Stewart
Title: The Breadmaker
Media: Oil on canvas
Nigel Stewart
Title: Lake District
Media: Oil on canvas
Iwan Evans

Iwan grew up in North Wales where he graduated with a degree in Fine Art. He currently lives in Manchester, which has provided him with a great deal of inspiration. He is fascinated with urban spaces and they tend to be the main focus in the majority of his work.
Iwan is heavily influenced by film and directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and strives to give his images a cinematic edge. There is sometimes the suggestion of a subtle narrative and a voyeuristic quality which he attributes to his interest in the work of Edward Hopper.
There is a certain amount of tension to Iwan's images. His main subject of work are urban spaces that appear to be deserted or perhaps portray a lone figure. His paintings often have an ethereal quality to them suggesting that they are somewhere in-between reality and a dream state. These factors help to encourage the sense, that perhaps something is not quite right in the image, thus creating a rather dark and brooding atmosphere.
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Iwan Evans
Title: Walk
Media: Oil on canvas
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Iwan Evans
Title: Autumn City
Media: Oil on canvas
Iwan Evans
Title: Bridge
Media: Oil on canvas
Iwan Evans
Title: Where I go
Media: Oil on paper
Darko Taleski

"I remember the words that my grandmother always said when she saw me how I hold the pencil and how I traced the first line on paper:
You will be an artist."
I started drawing from an early age. Inspiration does not ask me when to came. I get it every time, everywhere, when I walk, when I talk with somebody, when I teach children, when I sleep, when I drink coffee, when I met new people, when I see pleases and thinks over and over again but every time in different way.. Inspiration came like a flash. I remember it and I transform it in an art piece as fast as it come it. Using a storm of emotions during creative process it is my way of giving energy to the art works.
I usually use acrylic colors mixed with natural materials, paper and cardboard. I like to experiment with different kinds of materials and surfaces. The line in this period is primary in my works. It is usually black one composite with other colors on white background, but the line is always dominated. The line gives a dynamic and more emotion.
Trough the art I present the feelings of other people on me, as well my feelings to myself.
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Darko Taleski
Title: Hotheaded
Media: Acrylic on board
Darko Taleski
Title: Gazing away
Media: Acrylic on canvas board
Darko Taleski
Title: Wonder
Media: Acrylic on canvas (wooden frame)
Darko Taleski
Title: In Green
Media: Acrylic on paper (framed)
Carl Jacobs

As a child I always loved drawing and painting. At school, art was always my favourite subject and passing GCE first grade in Art, I went on to do a two year Graphics Course at Ashton-Under-Lyne College of Art, obtaining a North West Regional Diploma in Graphic Art and Design.
I love to experiment with different techniques and ideas and include these in my paintings. Much of my work now is done using acrylic paints which I find really versatile. They can be used as a thin wash; much the same as watercolours, or thickly in a similar way to oils and the other bonus is a fast drying time which enables me to work spontaneously, without waiting too long for the paint to dry.
I would say that when I begin a piece of work, my aim is not one of total realism, but more of an individual, slightly abstracted feel, which I achieve by fragmenting the image into shapes that echo certain elements in the image and then the painting, in a way takes over and dictates to me how it wants to progress. I find this way of working really exciting and enjoyable.
Carl Jacobs
Title: Catolica
Media: Acrylic on canvas
Carl Jacobs
Title: Padstow Harbour
Media: Acrylic on canvas
George Clayton

George Clayton has been painting for most of his life in various mediums including watercolour,oils, acrylics and pastels, as well as experimenting with new techniques and combinations of material .
In recent times his main subject matter has been the human figure. Whether in portraits or life drawing from a model, the figure is a never ending source of inspiration.
George Clayton
Title: Olga the Blue Monet
Media: Watercolour on paper (framed)
George Clayton
Title: Irish Girl
Media: Watercolour on paper (framed)
George Clayton
Title: The Reading Lady
Media: Watercolour on paper (framed)
George Clayton
Title: The Laying Nude
Media: Watercolour on paper (framed)
Olga Lomax

Olga Tsarevska is a Russian born and educated artist who came to England to expand her artistic abilities and is greatly influenced by the scenic views of the North of England where she currently lives.
Olga puts great passion into her work which is clearly evident in the fine detail, use of colours and attention to detail of the significant features of the piece.
A lot of Olga’s art is born from a strong foundation of passion, research and expansive knowledge of the great beauty in this world which many of us just pass by in our busy day-to-day lives.

Olga Lomax
Title: Manchester ARK
Medium: Oil on canvas
