TWO years after featuring the work of painter Lawrence Arthurs, the Slade Centre at Gillingham has an exhibition by his late wife, Susan Williams: A Distinctive Eye, running through October and November (with a three day break to allow for a Hallowe-en event) and into December.

The summer 2024 exhibition of Lawrence Arthurs’ paintings and drawings proved a great success, giving a unique and fascinating view of the world captured in paintings and drawings which few, other than close friends, had seen before. The exhibition came about thanks to Susan’s persistence. The result was a triumph.

It is now Lawrence’s turn to champion Susan, who very sadly passed away last summer. Throughout the summer Lawrence and gallery owner Anne Hitchcock explored the many paintings and drawings Susie left behind.

Anne says: “Together we have selected those which we believe best capture something of her artistic vision and, maybe, the person she was. As Lawrence says, hers is a ‘distinctive eye’, a gentle view of another time.

“Here are flowers on a windowsill, so reminiscent of paintings by Winifred Nicholson; paintings of two people in conversation; reclining women and women with cats. And here are drawings of Lawrence at work. Beautiful paintings and drawings evoking a simpler, gentler time, all offer much to be contemplated and enjoyed.”

Pictured: Nicholson’s Flowers, oil on board by Susan Williams