Spring arrives at the Oriel Gallery with Ulster Society of Women Artists exhibition

IT’S been a long, dark, cold winter with a wet and sometimes freezing start to this Spring but it has finally arrived at the Oriel Gallery at Antrim Castle Gardens in the form of The Ulster Society of Women Artists’ paintings.

They are holding their Spring exhibition to run until the end of May.

The gallery is so popular that they needed to book two years in advance, so are already booked in for 2026 with next year’s Spring exhibition at Flowerfields gallery PortStewart.

The USWA Spring Exhibition is a special treat for members to showcase the cream of members’ work, with only the Diploma holders and the prize winners from the annual Exhibition last year at Belfast Crumlin Road Gaol being eligible to enter.

Diploma holders are USWA members of at least five years duration who have displayed a consistently high standard of work and who also have contributed to the successful running of the society.

This exhibition coincides with Mental health week 10th to the 19th of May.

Members of USWA will be in the Antrim Castle Gardens and the The Oriel Gallery to do more painting, on Wednesday the 15th of May, to celebrate Mental Health week.

USWA President Catherine McKeever (will be giving a guided tour of the exhibition in the morning, 10am and again in the afternoon at 2pm.

Visitors will gain an insight as to how the artists were inspired to paint their paintings.

The exhibition can also be viewed online at www.uswa.co.uk where visitors can find out more about USWA and their members past work and achievements.

One of the artists featured won her heat on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year.

Lisa Ann Puhlhofer who lived and worked in Suffolk and after a 36 year career in nursing, culminating for 19 years as a Nurse Practitioner, in 2015, took semi-retirement to pursue a career in art.

Self-taught from 2009 and in 2013 she met and studied ink, watercolour, oil and pastel with Tony Merrick (1948-2018), proceeding to complete a Diploma in Portraiture at Heatherley School of Fine Art 2015-2017.

Her achievements include the Daphne Todd prize for Portraiture 2016 and in 2018 competed in the Sky TV Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, winning her heat and reaching the semi-finals.

She exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2017 and 2018 and Artist and Illustrators Shortlisted Artists of the Year at the Mall Gallery in London. She now resides in Belfast.

Speaking about her brush with fame, she said: “I entered last minute after finishing my self portrait. I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I got the call from the programme! I was walking on air all day! What a confidence boost.

“Then the reality of a four hour portrait set in.

“The whole experience was a whirlwind of excitement and nerves, though it was all made manageable by the friendly and supportive crew at Storyvault Films.

“They were so encouraging and helpful, both on the lead up to the day and during the filming. It was so exciting to meet the presenters, judges and my sitter Sophie Martini. I didn’t really have a plan, just to paint what I saw and try to capture something of her essence and character. Luckily she was a great sitter, hardly moving at all and so beautiful!

“The relief among the artists when the 4 hours was up was palpable. I must say I felt pretty good by then, the crowd were saying such lovely things about my painting. When I looked at the other artists work however, although happy with what I had done, I did not think for a minute I would get through. They were all so talented!

“When Frank called my name as the winner at the end I was shocked and overwhelmed. It was such an exhilarating feeling.

“Then the panic set in! I had to do it all again in a couple of weeks time in the semi final…

“Again the crew were so helpful. We were treated almost like celebrities.

“Hotel and trains booked. All that was left for us to do, was show up. I did practice a few quick portraits prior to the day, however, I made a bold decision on the day which I will always regret. But a painting is a journey and sometimes you take the wrong path.

“The whole semi final day was more difficult; two sitters in four hours and we were positioned much further away from them. Lovely as they both were, they didn’t sit still all day, so for those of us who were painting from life, this made it an even greater challenge.

“The whole experience is one I will never forget. To anyone thinking about entering, I would say go for it!”