tea amantes Archives - Blackpool Social Club

12 Aug

Seaside Shuffle: local writers pen Blackpool anthology

Linda Hampton0 CommentsLiterature & Spoken Wordauthors, Blackpool, blackpool art scene, books, community, heritage, literature, memoir, Place, poetry, publication, Stories, tea amantes, writers

Local author Linda Hampton (Sailing To The Moon), hosted the launch of a unique collection of writings last week – Seaside Shuffle. As a contributing writer to the collection, she tells Blackpool Social Club readers how work from local writers manifested into a new publication It was a packed house at Tea Amantes Community Arts on Albert Road in Blackpool, as many of the 37 Blackpool-based-or-connected writers, and friends, piled into to celebrate the culmination of nearly a year’s work, the publication of the anthology Seaside Shuffle - an eclectic mix of writing styles, and points of view all summoning…

01 May

Linda Hampton shares debut novel Sailing to the Moon

Linda Hampton0 CommentsGuide, Literature & Spoken Wordauthor, books, creative writing, library, literature, local author, novel, tea amantes

Blackpool author, Linda Hampton muses on the hurdles and bumps in the road that must be navigated to write and publish a book, and invites you to find out more about Sailing to the Moon, her debut novel that took her five years to finish. After five long years of swinging between getting on with it and sheer procrastination, and many, many life events that made it difficult for me to just write, I finished my debut novel, Sailing to the Moon. Sailing to the Moon is a story about the invisible ties that connect two people over a lifetime,…

11 Jan

Photography Exhibition: Steve Webberley at Tea Amantes

David Simper0 CommentsGuide, Visual Arts & Exhibitionsarchitectural photography, blackpool arts scene, photographic exhibition, tea amantes

Despite the cold weather, David Simper caught the Service 61 bus to take in the opening of Steve Webberley's exhibition at the excellent Tea Amantes tea room and gallery. This was a treat for the architectural photography fan and lover of saturated colour. This small collection of high quality prints is a sample of Steve's work over several years, reflecting the exotic places he has been, including Santorini in Greece, Bay of Naples in Italy and Malta. Home locations include England's South coast and the North West region. Steve has used his phone and a Digital Single Lens Reflex camera…

08 Nov

Exhibition Review: Back to Front – Lee Cobb at Tea Amantes

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsblackpool art scene, photographic exhibition, photography, tea amantes

The month has turned again and it's time for the new exhibition at Tea Amantes. Following on from Kenny McCrae, the new show features another photo walk stalwart, Lee Cobb. David Simper caught the service 61 bus to the town centre to catch Lee's vision. The clocks have gone back since last month's show launch and so it felt a little strange for Corporation Street to be that much darker as I disembarked from the bus and walked the short distance down Albert Road to the Tea Amantes cafe and gallery. A good crowd was in the house, including many…

15 Oct

Exhibition Review: It’s Not So Grim – Kenny McCrae at Tea Amantes

David Simper1 CommentVisual Arts & Exhibitionsblackpool arts scene, photographic exhibition, photography, street photography, tea amantes

A regular at the Tea Amantes photo walks, David Simper was keen to see his colleague's work. He caught the service 61 bus down to the town centre to view this exhibition. One of the Street Souls street photography group and a ring leader of the Tea Amantes photo walks, Kenny is overdue his own exhibition at the cafe and gallery. His work does not disappoint. The pictures revolve around a street photography ethos, mixed with opportunities for more formal portraits. Colour interchanges with monochrome for a pleasantly varied effect. I'm pretty sure I can remember watching Kenny take some…

19 Sep

Art Exhibition Review: Paintings by Elizabeth Ward

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsart exhibition, blackpool art scene, paintings, tea amantes

The month had turned to September and that meant a new exibition at the Tea Amantes venue. This time local artist, Elizabeth Ward, had taken over the cafe walls. David Simper caught the service 61 bus once more to view this collection of paintings. On entering the Tea Amantes gallery a tidy crowd was already in residence, admiring the paintings upon the walls. Blackpool-based Elizabeth is a graduate of Blackpool and the Fylde College. Her work includes vibrant renditions of landscapes, seascapes and portraiture. This latest collection employs mainly oils, many developed from plein air work along the Fylde Coast.…

28 Mar

Exhibition Review: Photowalk pics 2024

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsblackpool arts scenne, photography, street photography, tea amantes

As a participant in several of these photowalks, our regular reviewer David Simper has three pieces in this exhibition himself. Nevertheless, it was with some anticipation that he caught the service 61 bus down to the Tea Amantes gallery to see what else was on offer. Thirty strong images and good company awaited. Photography might seem like somewhat of a lonely pursuit, and indeed it can be, but it's always good to take pictures in a group. Photography can also be a social thing, with like minded people – there's strength in numbers. Monthly photowalks have been working out of…

21 May

Exhibition Review: Home and Away by Lesley Keeler

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & Exhibitionsart exhibition, Blackpool, blackpool art scene, painting, tea amantes

Local artist, Lesley Keeler, has chosen to present her first exhibition at the Tea Amantes gallery and tea room. David Simper took his camera and recorder down to the gallery to catch these bright and striking acrylic images. Tea Amantes is such an excellent venue for a small exhibition, although the paintings presented here are not small in vision or technique. They represent a history of travel with some local images. Time for some colour in your life. The paintings are intensely bright, almost primary coloured, and make full use of acrylic paint's qualities in that respect. They are well…

12 Nov

Exhibition Review: Between the Lines – Elizabeth Bullock

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsArt, art exhibition, blackpool art scene, painting, tea amantes

At the opening of the latest exhibition at Tea Amantes, we chat to artist Elizabeth Bullock about her inspiration – from Monet's garden to her childhood on Marton Moss. Having even managed to get the family meal served before leaving the house, I caught the service 61 bus down to town Tea Amantes to catch Elizabeth Bullock's show of watercolours, other artworks and poetry. Elizabeth has also penned a children's book called Stanley and the Half Pint and examples of her poetry were placed among the artworks.. So a versatile artist indeed. Bullock's works are accomplished and varied, between animal…

05 Jul

Exhibition: 20 years of Inkden tattoo studio

David Simper0 CommentsVisual Arts & ExhibitionsBlackpool, blackpool arts scene, Exhibition, inkden tattoo parlour, tea amantes

Our friends at the Tea Amantes tea room and art gallery are frequently featured in these pages for hosting a string of excellent art exhibitions. Now they are hosting a show to celebrate 20 years of their partner business, the Inkden Tattoo Studio. The studio first opened as the Dragons Den and was founded by Keith Butcher in the heart of Blackpool and quickly gained recognition and became one of the most renowned and respected tattoo studios in town. Over the past two decades, the studio has witnessed significant changes, one of which was the takeover by one of Keith's…