Transitions: Meet the artists
Delighted to be part of the 2026 Transitions exhibition opening at the Otley Courthouse on 26th April. Four Otley artists. Find out more about us.
Jo Crowther
https://www.instagram.com/crowthercrazybird/
I am an Otley-based fluid artist exploring the evolving relationship between creativity, personal experience, and change. Working primarily with fluid painting techniques, I experiment with movement, colour and layering to create organic forms that reflect the unpredictability of both art and life.
Life experience and challenges influence my artistic process. Rather than following a single fixed style, I embrace change, allowing each piece to develop naturally through flow,layering, and intuition. My practice has developed through continual experimentation with different styles of fluid art, each emerging from shifting inspirations resulting in a body of work that embraces transformation and adaptation.
Along with creating functional art for the home, I have begun exploring using acrylic gel to create texture and movement on some abstract pieces.Each piece reflects a stage in an ongoing creative journey—one shaped by curiosity, resilience where control and spontaneity coexist alongside the ever-changing nature of life. My work in Transitions reflects this journey — an exploration of how art, like life, is continually shifting, adapting, and becoming something new.
Sandra Flitcroft
https://www.instagram.com/flitcroftsandra/
After living in Otley for over 30 years, I am constantly re-inspired by local landscapes, working from photos and sketches done on sketching trips with the Healing Arts Group, as well as gardens created and cared for by friends.
Although recognisable, they are stylised and gently distorted, transforming structure into rhythm. A focus on flow and pattern gives a feeling of dreamlike calm. Features like paths, steps and bridges lead to a mysterious who-knows-where.
Mystery also unfolds as female figures, trees, moons and mandalas emerge through layers of paint on canvas. Some images are hidden again while others remain. Each painting is in itself a process of uncovering subconscious knowledge, and a threshold between seen and unseen worlds.
This layered, instinctive process also forms part of my paintings of trees. Working in fluid washes and veils of colour, the surface develops slowly and trees appear linear, rooted and reaching. My trees link Earth and sky, conscious and subconscious, seen and sensed; they are both anchors and thresholds, holding space for a more symbolic and deeper, intuitive awareness of landscape.
Sarah Hughes
https://www.instagram.com/sarahhughes4793/
I take my inspiration from the landscape around me. My printmaking practice is supported by painting and drawing and I bring my experience of mixed media work into my Screenprints.
Many of my prints involve direct markmaking on the screen during the print process. This makes each print individual and creates tension and life in contrast to the flat areas created by the use of stencils. The transitions caused by weather and seasons are expressed in marks and colours.
Travelling recently in Japan, I was struck by the contrast between the spiritual significance of landscape in Japanese culture and the everyday practicality of architecture in Japan. The fabric of Japanese houses seems utilitarian or temporary. (New owners often demolish and rebuild). An unease caused by a Culture constantly attuned to threat from earthquake or Tsunami and which still bears the psychological trauma of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese landscape meanwhile is treasured as unchanging. A culture in continuous transition while at the same time resisting it.
The print ‘9 views of Mount Fuji’ is a response to a railway journey I took in Japan, catching fleeting glimpses of Mount Fuji behind urban and rural landscape. The views reminded me of Hokusai’s 36 views of Mount Fuji which celebrate the sacred journey along the Tokaido Highway from Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto. The Road is a transition through changing human landscape with the constant presence of the sacred mountain.
Jeanne-Louise Moys
https://www.instagram.com/jeannelouiseart/
Moving to Yorkshire four years ago re-invigorated my art life. Born in Cape Town, I’ve lived in different parts of Britain for a good third of my life. Otley is where I truly feel at home. It’s wonderful to have become part of a thriving community of local artists and independent businesses. It’s true when they say people are friendlier up north!
My floral paintings featured in Transitions capture the transient beauty of nature.Many of these creations have been painted plein air in the Otley sunshine, inspired by humble garden blooms and Yorkshire skies.I’m also exhibiting some paintings from my upcycled collection: artworks that have been given a new lease of life as part of my endeavours to reduce studio waste. These gestural creations playfully embrace and transform the underlying layers and textures of ‘older’ creative adventures as my style evolves.
- Transitions in on at the Otley Courthouse from 26 April to 31 May 2026.
- Join us on Sunday 10th between 4 and 6 pm to find out about our varied ways of working and celebrate our different approaches.