IT all started with a chance meeting in a historic Bradford mill.
Artists Patrick Whitehead and Helen Trevisiol-Duff met while passing in a corridor at Black Dyke Mill, Queensbury, a few years ago and are now hosting a joint exhibition of their work.
Introduced by a mutual friend, the pair began to chat and realised they had lots in common.
Both were living in Bradford for family reasons, having lived in London and Bristol and, in their earlier careers, the Far East.
Their shared love of where they spent their early years – as well as a passion for printmaking and printing – has sparked the new ‘Eastern Inspired’ exhibition.
Helen lived in India at the beginning of her career as a fashion designer and has worked in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong on many occasions.
Patrick has lived in Singapore and travelled widely across Asia.
Both are avid sketchbook users and photographers and their love for travel has always inspired their art.
Patrick said: “We were destined to meet and I’m looking forward to our first joint show as our work balances well and has harmony."
Patrick, who was born in Bradford, returned to the city and opened The Apothecary Gallery in Thornton in 2022.
“I am inspired and motivated by my experiences gained through travelling abroad and recording what interests and absorbs me,” said Patrick.
“Different cultures interest me and the majority of my work is figurative and representational portraying people, landscapes and architecture.”
Helen, who was born in Bristol, moved to Halifax and then Wyke in 2021, having left London and closed her two artisan shops with in-house galleries after 18 years of trading.
She has lived with a disability following acute chronic arthritis since her early 20s.
It started when she had malaria and dengue fever while living in India and she has, at times, lived painting from her bed for months following surgery.
She has a love of Japanese Sakura – cherry blossom - and has recently taught blossom painting workshops.
Helen said: “I admire the work of Japanese artists including Hokusai and printmakers of the Edo period. I was taught Japanese painting in Tokyo and love the simplicity and economy of line and mark-making.
“I combine eastern and western painting techniques, using Japanese brushes in my own style.
“Curating the exhibition with Patrick has shown a true sense of compatibility in our work although we are very different in our styles.”
Both artists admire each other's art and have bought each other's work in past exhibitions.
The pair say their subsequent friendship shows through in the first showcase of their work as a creative duo.
The ‘Eastern Inspired’ preview is on Friday, July 12, and the exhibition runs until mid-August at The Apothecary Gallery, 57 Market Street, Thornton, BD13 3EN.
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