William Frederick Briggs (1889-1972) was a Bradford-born and based artist who achieved regional recognition for his portraits and landscape artworks. He was the youngest child of six and the only son of William Henry and Mary Annie Briggs. His father was a warehouseman, then later an assistant county court bailiff, and…
For over eighty years the Keighley School of Art was one of the most prestigious in the north of England. A procession of talented artists studied there and many progressed to advanced art courses elsewhere, and particularly to the Royal College of Art (RCA). Using local and national information…
Bev Morton is a Thornton-based mixed-media artist currently painting and creating monotypes in acrylic and collage. Her current work (2024) is focused on the forms and colours found in the natural world. ‘ Bev studied art at Bradford School of Art in the 1980s and then worked as…
The political cartoonist, Alan Hardman (1936-2024), was born in Barnsley, the son of a Yorkshire miner, but spent his latter years living at Laycock, near Keighley. After leaving school he completed a six year apprenticeship in lithographic printing in Barnsley. He was called up for national service after which he…
Artist John Giles is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has lived in Yorkshire for 25 years. He completed an HND in Surface Pattern and a BA Hons in Textile Design at the University of Ulster. Having worked as a colourist and designer in a textile printing firm John…
The artist Brian John Vale (1930 – 2008) was born in Southsea, Portsmouth. He spent his early life in London and Leicester and came from a long line of silversmiths and jewellery designers. At the age of 11 he moved to Bradford with his family and attended Thornton Grammar…
John Herbert Stott (1864 – 1941) became successful as an artist-illuminator, producing richly decorated leather-bound albums or framed testimonials to celebrate the life events of local people. He was born in Halifax; his father, also named John, was a wool-sorter at Mytholmroyd, where the family lived. By the age…
Stuart Hirst was born in Bradford in 1950. He gained recognition for his popular watercolour paintings of urban scenes in the Bradford district and elsewhere. His ‘wet streets’ series in particular capture the sense of rain reflecting on cobbles and flagstones in a 19th century built townscapes. The scenes…
Ian Croden (1946 – 1990) was born in Keighley; his parents were James, an engraver by profession, and mother, Mary (nee Casey). Ian studied art at Bradford School of Art and later worked with Peter Black of Keighley. Peter Black was a major manufacturer in Keighley of footwear, homewares,…
Sarah Lyte, textile fibre artist, combines wet felting with up-cycled fabrics, free motion embroidery to create a range of artworks. She uses sustainable and ethical natural products and by-products, up-cycled and recycled fabric that would otherwise go to landfill. Sarah, who lives at Wilsden, studied initially at…
