Art Cheshire is the newest addition to the art fairs calendar. The launch is the latest venture from Arte in Europa, better known as organisers of the successful Edinburgh Art Fair. Art Cheshire opens at The Mere Golf Resort and Spa, Chester Road, Mere, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6LJ from Friday 21 until Sunday 23 September 2012.

Art Cheshire is the perfect place to find art for the workplace, for the home, as an investment or as a special present. 28 exhibitors from across the UK and Ireland are gathering to present a wide and eclectic mix of 20th and 21st century oil and watercolour paintings, illustrations, drawings and sculpture by British and international artists. Some are well known names, whilst others are emerging artists and new discoveries, catering for all tastes and price brackets.

Specialising in artists from the north-west, Jo Bennett Originals from Cheshire, has paintings by quintessential northerner, John Thompson (1924 – 2011), Czech born Jiri Borsky (b 1945), who is based in the Potteries, Susan Brown from Yorkshire, Cheshire artist David Porter and well known Manchester artist Geoffrey Key (b. 1946), one of whose paintings achieved a world record price at Christies’ 20th C British Sale in London last year. Sculpture by Geoffrey Key is fairly rare these days, however, Jo Bennett Originals is bringing ‘Bronze Horse’, priced at £8,500, in addition to his paintings. Macclesfield born Simon Pooley is represented by London gallery Eleven and a Half, specialists in artists living and working in Cornwall, including John Piper, Terry Whybrow, Neil Davies, Ben Catt and Michael Praed. Simon Pooley’s ‘Estuary Dunes’ is priced at £700.

Other artists of local interest include Wilmslow born and bred Andrew Hood (b. 1964), whose paintings are on First Contemporary’s stand, selling for in the region of £1,850. Enid Lawson Gallery is showing the work of Anita Henderson, who lives and works from her studio in Cheshire. Her current collection is sourced from ideas from film stills and her painting process is painstakingly conscientious involving the application of up to six layers of paint. Each painting takes up to five months to complete. From further afield Christine Relton and Tom Marine's technique is extremely unusual in that they paint together on the same canvas. Now living in Yorkshire, Christine love to paint the wild beauty of the northern landscape, and their distinct style has proven to be extremely popular. They now have an enviable reputation in both the UK and overseas. Their 'Hope Valley from Stanage Edge' in acrylic on canvas is priced at £3,500. Recent landscapes by British artist Jonathan Pocock (b.1967), whose work has doubled in price over the last five years, include ‘Off The Downs’, selling for £4,250. These oils sit alongside respected English landscape artist Paul Treasure (b 1961), who paints his large canvases in a relaxed impressionist style, typically of river scenery ranging from the wilds of Scotland to the beauty of Hampshire, where he lives.

‘Relaxing with a Glass of Mateus’, oil on card, by Joan Gillchrest (1918-2008) takes centre stage on Oxfordshire Wren Gallery’s stand, priced at £10,500. Joan Gillchrest’s now famous naïve style was developed in the early 1970s, depicting the life and characters of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, to where she moved in the 1950s, painting alongside Francis Bacon, William Scott and Augustus John.
Alexander Gallery from Bristol is bringing two humorous paintings by Beryl Cook depicting ordinary people’s activities - ‘Dirty Dancing’ has an asking price of £40,000 and ‘Hairdressing’, poignantly one of the last paintings before her death, can be bought for £35,000. Shen Ming Cun, a senior professor of art at Guangxi University, who has received international acclaim and whose tribal portraits capture the essence, attitudes, culture and history of the sitter is also on the stand. Shen Ming’s oil on canvas ‘Miao Girl’ is priced at £12,000. Edge Fine Art’s artists include William Gear RA (1915-1997), with ‘Abstract 1953’ priced at £2,400, Robert Adams (1917-1984), whose work can be found in the Tate and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Here is a chance to own a Robert Adams limited edition lithograph ‘Screen II’(39/50), 1963, priced at £875 or an undated, studio stamped pencil drawing ‘Houses in landscape’ by Keith Vaughan (1912-1977), selling for £1,400.

The fine detailing of muscular and human form in David Begbie’s steel mesh sculptures have been compared to those of Rodin and Michaelangelo. Number Nine The Gallery from Birmingham is offering David Begbie’s work for sale. Nikki Taylor’s wire sculpture of Olympian Tom Daley recently greeted those in the VIP meeting area at London 2012. Neville Contemporary Art from Hampshire has recent sculptures by Nikki Taylor for sale, priced from £975. Amongst the Russian artists represented on Hillier Gallery’s stand, from Stratford-upon-Avon, is Oleg Trofimov (b 1962), whose work has been bought by virtually every major Russian bank and is in the private collections of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.
Sol Art Gallery from Dublin is showing the work of Irish artists, amongst who is internationally renowned fashion designer Paul Costelloe. At Art Cheshire, there will be a chance to pick up an original fashion illustration by Costelloe or even a watercolour painting. Costelloe uses a limited palette to recreate the energy of the surroundings in subtle detail that focuses on a key subject within the landscapes and scenes around him.

Just one of Sir Peter Blake’s masterpieces, ‘Sgt Pepper’, was only released in 2008 as a fine art print. Now at the end of its edition Brook Gallery is exhibiting one of the only remaining signed copies (£4,750) alongside a newly released ‘Sgt Pepper’ inspired piece, ‘Vintage Blake’ created by the godfather of British Pop Art to celebrate his 80th birthday this year (£2,500 unframed). ‘Vintage Blake’ features people important in Sir Peter’s life (with him pictured centre stage), including celebrity icons past and present like David Hockney, Eric Clapton, Ian Dury, Grayson Perry, Twiggy, Hitchcock, Sir Paul McCartney and Vivienne Westwood, whereas the ‘Sgt Pepper’ album cover represents idols, and personalities of its time in the 1960s. There will be a selection of other rare and new pieces by Sir Peter Blake, as well as a series of Damien Hirst’s beautiful butterfly foil block prints ‘The Souls’, published by Paul Stolper in 2011.

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