Anthony Barrow

Anthony's Brush with Fame!

Anthony Barrow has teamed up with Rolf Harris in a unique project to honour Lowry.
Anthony Barrow joined 15 other North West artists invited along to Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens to paint the same view immortalised by the master of matchstick men in 1954.
Their collected works will now form the subject for a BBC programme, Rolf on Lowry, due to be broadcast in the spring about the life of the artist.

Anthony, 50, who has been painting for more than 30 years, developed his skills as a member of Ashton Art Group.He took voluntary redundancy from the Royal Mail after two decades' service, so he could concentrate on his first love, painting, as a career with a home studio in Fir Tree Drive.

He said that it had been a great experience to meet Rolf, an "accessible" artist he had long admired.
The documentary will celebrate Lowry's life and work and hopes to give a sense of how his art is still important today.
The idea of the gathering was to create a "21st century vision" of Lowry's original painting of 'Piccadilly Gardens'.

He said: "The BBC contacted me via Axis, a website for artists and teachers.
"Painting started at 10am with a break for lunch at noon then more painting and interviews with the crew until 3pm.
"The plan was to ask each artist to create their own visualisation of Lowry's painting and a chance to look at an old work in a new way.

"We were all encouraged to work in the medium we felt most comfortable in and in our own style."
Actual filming took place over a 180 minute period.
"The programme will be shown in the next few months and there will be an exhibition at the Lowry Centre in Manchester to commemorate the event."