From showgirls to sailors in high colour

The works included in Show time depict all manner of subject from showgirls to still life and sailors to shipwrights.

John started painting at the age of 16 whilst a dockyard worker and shipwright apprentice in Portsmouth Dockyard.

He depicts the characters from his youth in his paintings.

With a keen eye and considerable knowledge of art history his works move from the figurative towards the abstract.

He continues his journey from the representational towards the abstract using vivid colours to powerful effect.

Later and newer works are contemporary from all manner of things seen or imagined and often referencing classical art, whereby images are transformed through a series of sketches or ideas, resulting in a finished work entirely different from the starting point with vivacious and lively results.

Visitors can expect a colourful and diverse exhibition.

In recent years John has won a number of painting awards including the Alan Davie Prize for painting and joint winner of The Art Paper Front Page Competition.

In January this year John was featured in the New this Week Saatchi online collection www.saatchigallery.com.

John Lipsham’s work can be viewed on a permanent basis at the Burton Gallery, Marine Court, St Leonards.

The preview is tomorrow (Saturday, February 9), at the gallery, from 11am to 1.30pm.

Admission is free.

Visit www.stables-theatre.co.uk.