Geoff Woodhead: painter

GEOFF WOODHEAD lived next to the River Lune for almost 30 years, in that time he painted many large abstract canvases based on the light on the river. His work was shown in the Storey Gallery in November 2000. These were a new series of highly detailed views of all the bridges on the Lune, starting at Carlisle railway bridge and finishing in the Howgills. They were a radical departure for an established artist.Geoff now lives and paints in the Lot valley in southern France.

Skerton bridge: oil on canvas

Aqueduct bridge: oil on canvas

Carlisle bridge: oil on canvas

Press release for Bridges over the Lune: Exhibition at the Storey Gallery, October 2000.
All the beauty and grandeur of the crossings of the principal river in North Lancashire and South Cumbria is being brought together inLancaster for the first time. "Bridges over the Lune " at the Storey Institute Art Gallery will cover all 19 bridges from the mouth to the upper reaches of the river.
The exhibition is the work of artist GEOFF WOODHEAD, whose own quayside home overlooks the Lune in Lancaster. He started painting his collection two years ago with Greyhound bridge which was built in 1912 to carry the railway to Morecambe and was converted to take road traffic to the resort and the North in 1969. The bridges stretch from Carlisle bridge (1846), which carries the West Coast main line to the 16th. century bridge at Lowgill near Kendal. Duiring his work Geoff has come to love them all but his favourite is Waterside viaduct at Firbank.
Well-known views in Lancaster will be seen in a different light. They include Thomas Harrison's Skerton Bridge (1788), which acted as a model for London's Waterloo bridge', and John Rennie's Canal Aqueduct (1797), which has been described as the greatest piece of work of it's kind in the UK.
Devil's bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale (1633) has been scheduled as an ancient monument, which Wainwright has called the finest old bridge in            England.
Geoff Woodhead, 59, was born in Rochdale and trained at Bolton and Lancaster Colleges of Art before gaining a State scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art in London. He is glad he was encouraged to Lancaster, which he says was a good college with good staff, because he also made his home here. He has been at the forefront of the campaign to keep open for public use the Storey Institute in Meeting House lane, which used to house the college and where the exhibition will be. He now teaches at Arnold School, Blackpool.
Geoff's idea for the exhibition came during the building of the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists in Lancaster to mark the Millenium. Ironically, the bridge will be missing from the exhibition because Geoff does not approve of it.
The exhibition opens to the public on Thursday November 9 and runs until Wednesday December 20.
Opening times for this exhibition are 10.00am to 4.00 pm Monday to Saturday.
12.00noon to 4,00pm Sunday.
Workshops for school;children and other events are planned.
Alan Sandham. September 2000.