Spa Hotel Hosts Art Exhibition For Former Windermere Student

A renowned artist and former Windermere school pupil has been given the chance to display her works in a new art exhibition.

Kitty North, who studied at St Anne’s School, Windermere, is bringing an exhibition of her work to the Atrium at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa.

The gallery display, called Buildings in the Landscape, has been organised in partnership with contemporary and modern British art specialists Gavagan Art. It features some of Kitty North’s most prominent works, including Moonlit Night, her painting of Levens Hall, and The Old Rectory, once home to the English poet John Betjeman.

Kitty’s growing reputation as an artist has resulted in a number of prestigious commissions across the UK. These have included projects at Levens Hall, Bolton Abbey, Chatsworth and Salts Mill Saltaire, where a large exhibition of her work, ‘Continuum’, is currently on display.

Kitty’s links with Cumbria have continued beyond her school days. A solo exhibition of her work was held at the Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal in 1998, and in 2012, she was ‘artist in residence’ at Levens Hall, the Elizabethan mansion with its famous topiary garden.

General manager at English Lakes Hotels Resorts & Venues Mark Needham

explains:

“Our inaugural art gallery at Low Wood Bay was a great success and many of our guests commented on our use of the Atrium space to showcase contemporary pieces of art."

“Kitty's work has been widely exhibited and collected around the world. So we expect the display to draw art lovers to Windermere and be a big talking point for guests and visitors to the spa resort.”

Kitty lists several key influences which led her to paint, in particular being taken as a child to see an exhibition of David Hockney’s paintings, and in the same year seeing an exhibition of the British artist JMW Turner. And yet the overriding and continuing influence on her art has been the experience of living in the Northern landscape. Kitty North says:

“I have the fondest memories of my early life and schooldays in the Lake District. My formative years were spent at Blackwell, now the arts and crafts museum, and St Anne’s, now Windermere School. These two beautiful places are a large part of my artistic journey, as well as my experience as artist in residence at Levens Hall."

“This part of the world is etched deep into my soul and the landscape and the people are an unending source of inspiration in my work.”

Gavagan Art owner Mary Gavagan adds:

“This exhibition of Kitty’s work at Low Wood Bay is a wonderful opportunity to bring her paintings to a wider audience. Kitty is a prolific artist and colourist. I have exhibited her work previously both in Lancashire at Lancaster University’s Peter Scott Gallery and in Yorkshire.”

The exhibition of Kitty North’s paintings is the second ‘Art in the Atrium’ gallery display to be held at Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa. It runs until 24 April 2024 and is freely open for viewing throughout the day. To find out more, visit here.