Local artist John Spencer is exhibiting at Hive cafe. David Simper, who paints alongside John at Blackpool Art Society meetings, went along to see what he had done with the opportunity for a full-scale exhibition and to catch up with the artist. This collection of bold, vibrant pieces did not disappoint.
I had had a little preview of some of these pieces, as they had been part done at the Blackpool Art Society’s monthly general painting sessions, but there’s nothing like seeing finished work, curated creatively. Of a large scale, the work fills the HIVE’s walls easily.
Using a deceptively sophisticated technique, the style is impressionistic, even cartoonish, using strong colour to create bold images. By exploiting foreground, there is a good sense of depth. These images are selected from a range of Blackpool scenes.
These are strong and positive paintings. Versatile acrylic is the chosen material with the palette well chosen.
I spoke to John about his work process and the thinking behind his exhibition.
How did it feel to be the centre of attention at your first solo exhibition?
This is the culmination of four months really hard work. I’d given myself the challenge to do an exhibition this year. I’m starting to enjoy it a little bit now, which is nice.
How long have you defined yourself as an artist?
I didn’t start painting until the Covid lockdown. I’d had a stroke before that, so I went straight from hospital to lockdown. I had had three months of sitting around, so I had to find something creative to do.
Did you already have art materials been to hand?
Weirdly enough I had an old art set that someone had given me for Christmas – some pencils and watercolours. I just started drawing – if it didn’t work, it doesn’t matter. Here I am six years later.
Had you aspired to be an artist previously?
Not really, nobody in our family was particularly interested. My grandfather painted, but I never met him, he died before I was born. We do have some of his paintings. Nobody else was particularly enthusiastic – art was looked down upon as a pastime really.
Did you use acrylics for this suite of work?
Yes, these have been done with acrylic. I find that it’s good for large-scale work and it’s quicker than other media.
I’m aware that you can produce work of great pictorial detail – why have selected this more impressionistic, almost naive style for this exhibition?
I’d say the work is more based in impressionism than naive art. I wanted the feel of Van Gogh or Munch, with deliberate simplicity. There is more detail in some, especially the cafe. I like impressionism, I’m a fan of Van Gogh, I’m a fan of Monet – they’re not worried about tiny detail, they’re worried about feeling. Feeling is more important than detail.
What’s the philosophy behind the selection of views to be painted?
I think really that Blackpool gets a rep for being a bit of a dump, but we do have some very nice bits. What I wanted to do was to make Blackpool look nice again. I wanted to paint some happiness – I could have painted the homeless guy and the bins, but we get too much of that. We’re not that bad. So my theory was, let’s show the nice side of the place – it’s too easy to go ‘oh we’re poor round here, we’re under-funded round here’, but you know what, the sunsets are amazing, the people are fantastic, there’s exciting things happening, so let’s have some of that.
How do you anticipate moving forward with your work?
My next project focuses on paintings that haven’t been done for a long time. Certain paintings were very popular say 200 years ago, but people don’t paint them now. So I’m looking to do something with that, making use of older images. Onwards and upwards.
Needless to say, this sounds like a fascinating idea and I look forward to viewing the results. Thanks to John for providing these insights into his work and the considerable thought that’s gone into it. His exhibition is on display in the HIVE cafe and gallery’s ground floor until 20th May 2026.
It was also good to see the exhibition so well attended, including by friends from the Blackpool Art Society. With the service 3 bus due, it was time to slip away and edit these photographs before bed. Thanks as ever to the HIVE team, who always deserve recognition for supporting these events.
