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The Lunch Discussion - From Moss Side to the Gallery: Andrew Alan Matthews Paints Manchester · The Discussion Podcast

0:03
This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell, supported by Matthew Dyer.
0:10
Childbed learning in nature's playground.
0:18
So today on the show I'm speaking with a man who I met at the recent Mayor's
0:24
Civic Reception, quite a post-due actually, and we got chatting,
0:28
I think actually we met in the toilets.
0:30
His name is Andrew Alan Matthews, and he's a guy who's sick into painting and with a real passion.
0:37
Andrew, how are you? I'm great, thank you very much, Rod. Thanks for allowing
0:42
me to interview me today, yeah.
0:43
It was a bit of a posh do the other night, wasn't it? Oh, it was.
0:47
It was like a slap-up meal, posh do.
0:50
The main event was to raise funds for a charity for Jane Brophy's Thamesad Mare's charity as well.
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So, yeah, it was a really good do. And it almost showed the best of the area
1:00
Didn't it really In terms of people and culture and artists and stuff Yeah that's
1:05
right They had a diverse range of people From arts and music and.
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Fantastic dancing as well so
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it was a really good event and lots of mares that
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attended I think it was only 75 mares at the time as well yeah there was there
1:21
was a lot of mares there I have to say really really really good so we got chatting
1:26
and I found out about your passion and your love of painting where did this
1:30
come from is this something that came into your life in later years or has it always been there,
1:35
it was when I was about age five years old and
1:39
my mum and dad I saw my interest in art and they took me to Salford Museum in
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Art Gallery in Salford and I saw a huge painting cut by John Charles Dolman
1:50
of Cold Famine and it was like of a huge skeleton figure with all wolves around
1:55
it in a snow scene and it kind of like,
1:57
imagine me five years old looking at that massive painting and it was like mesmerised
2:01
by Eric and also Ellis Lowry's artworks in the gallery and I kind of took inspiration
2:06
from that so it led from there really and I've always been interested in art.
2:12
And where did your parents' interests come from? And how did they end up taking you there?
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Well, my dad was a bus driver and my mum was a cleaner.
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And he knew the Salford Museum was a great gallery because we've got like a
2:25
Victorian gallery as well.
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And he decided to take us on a day trip there when I was about five years old.
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And from then, it just sparked my passion in art, really, from there on in.
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And my dad bought me an oil pastel paper and also oil pastels and from players'
2:44
cards, you know, from cigarette packets.
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I used to use my oil pastels to do falcons and tigers and all sorts of things
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when I was younger. So it sparked my passion.
2:55
Yeah, yeah. And you grew up in Moss Side. Was there many other people as passionate
2:59
about art in Moss Side as you were at the time?
3:01
No, I kind of kept it quiet because it was a bit rough and tumbling in Moss
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Side. We had a proper childhood growing up in Mosside,
3:08
And we used to do like Mind Your Car, Mister, at the Man City main road ground.
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I used to do Mind Your Car, Mister.
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And it kind of sparked me interest in football as well of Man City because on
3:21
match days we used to do Mind Your Car.
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And in half-time, the Man City main road used to open the gates for the kids
3:28
at half-time so the kids could watch the game at halfway time.
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So you don't do that anymore.
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But it's kind of like then days are gone now. But I've done a whole Moss Side
3:37
nostalgia collection dedicated to Moss Side, and I'm hoping to get them to show
3:42
with our gallery as well, which is near Moss Side.
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That's one of my next passions.
3:47
Well, we're going to talk about your art. We're going to talk a little bit about
3:50
football. We're also going to hear a poem from you as well and talk about the
3:54
exhibitions that are coming up across the Greater Manchester area.
3:58
So today my guest is Andrew Alan Matthews. He's an artist with a Manchester
4:04
theme and a Manchester background, a true, you could say a true Manchester artist.
4:09
We'll be back finding out more about how he got into this in a few minutes' time.
4:14
You're listening to The Late Late Lunch Show. Back to the Garden Childcare,
4:18
where little explorers grow naturally.
4:22
So, Andrew, from that early, if you like, encouragement from your parents, and to be fair,
4:29
for people with your background, It was really quite interesting that they took such an interest in art,
4:39
really, as working-class people, really.
4:42
That's right, because normally working-class people, especially around me,
4:47
Mossad or Old Trafford, the parents would take them to a football game,
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but my dad saw me interested in art early.
4:55
He wanted to encourage me to do me art and have a passion. and that's why it
5:01
was like an unknown thing, which is why I kept it pretty quiet,
5:05
mainly when I was a kid. Yeah, because...
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Moss Side is a bit of a rough and tumble place to grow, but it was a funnily
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enjoyable time growing up in Moss Side in the back of the 70s and 80s. I can imagine.
5:16
Yeah. There's proper community there, isn't there? Yeah, there's a proper community back then.
5:21
Hardly any cars on the streets. You could play Kirby, Keepy Uppy football, Street Football.
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I've done quite a few paintings on Moss Side showing that.
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All my paintings come with short stories and poems to them as well about the
5:37
city scapes of Manchester and so forth and beyond, and kind of put some meat
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on the bones of the paintings and highlights the good, the bad and the ugly, a bit like me, I suppose.
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Now tell me, did you take that love of art all the way through your education,
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or did it dwindle and come back to you?
5:54
No, I took it all the way through my education. I wasn't very good at maths
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or anything like that. We were subjects. I didn't try, but I couldn't do it.
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I think I've got an artist's brain, but yeah.
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I did A-level art early, two years early.
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Then I did A-level art when I was in my final year at school.
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And then went to Arden Sixth Form College.
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Then I got a job as a design separation artist with TFS, which is two textiles
6:25
film services, and also ABC Batic, which does batty designs throughout Africa.
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So I got into that career for about 10 years, reproducing designs for Laura
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Ashley, Liberty Designs, Sanderson's, all the major high street brands in the UK.
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I had a mental health breakdown and went back to university and studied BA on his textiles.
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And when I was at textiles doing that degree, I used to think LS Lowry's art
6:54
wasn't very good, but I went to an art lecture on Lowry.
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So from the lecture, it opened my eyes. is that I was quite an accomplished
7:02
artist and I developed my style over many years.
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Did a Lowry S. Manor boy in my style.
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So that's how you would define your style, is a sort of modern take on a Lowry classic?
7:15
Yeah, I take inspiration from L.S.
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Lowry's characters and his cityscapes and landscapes that he does and put it
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in my style but in a more colourful aspect because Lowry only used five colours
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like muted greys reflecting the 18th century chimneys and cotton mills at the time,
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but I'm reflecting modern Manchester in colourful, vibrant colours,
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and I'm Manchester boy, a Lowry S. Manor, but in my style.
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And I guess if Lowry was my master, I'd be his boisterous apprentice, I'd say.
7:49
Just going back to that early part of your career, so you were doing,
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was it doing work for the likes of Laura Ashley or copying what they were doing for other people?
8:00
So basically, TFS2 Textiles Film Services,
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they reproduced the designs ready to go onto copper rollers or rotor screen
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printing in the Strinds Printworks up in the Peak District and also Brunswick and Hyde,
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which is the ABC Batics for African Designs.
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They finally closed down and everything went overseas to Ghana.
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Like a lot of old textile industries, he's closed So when I wanted to be a textile
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designer at university When I went to university, my main aim was to be a textile designer.
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During the time I was there, from being hand-painted artwork that I do,
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it all turned to computers.
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And so there wasn't much need for many textile designers in the UK.
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So there wasn't many jobs.
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So I kind of fell into other areas such as management and into call centers.
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I did call center work for 22 years, which is a stressful area,
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but still continuing with my art.
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And I created my stress and anxiety collection. And part of the stress and anxiety
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collection was used in the Unite Union's training and development department
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where people overcome stress at work.
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So I'm glad it was turned a negative into a positive, which is what I'm all about.
9:27
Well, that's so much about art can be about that, can't it?
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For some people, it is an outlet that eases their day, if you like,
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eases the stress of their day job.
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It becomes their therapeutic outlet Yeah, that's in a way what I do It's like
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therapy for myself Because I did suffer through mental health issues Tried to
9:49
commit suicide back in 96 Due to extreme stress.
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And I've overcome that now by using my art therapy medication.
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Helping other charities, and their art therapy is the main thing,
10:01
really, because I'm usually in my shed about four in the morning,
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painting away like a nutter dancing in my shed, and it's just a therapeutic
10:08
way of life, and it's just my passion in life, yeah.
10:13
Do you know, I think there's so many people like that, and for me,
10:16
radio is similar, actually.
10:18
You know, it's something I used to sit in the 1980s and make up my own radio
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shows, And I went off and did a career.
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And then after having brain injury, I needed something and I couldn't work again.
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I needed something to give me an outlet. And I came, I went back to that thing
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in the 1980s that I had no idea would ever be, you know, possible for me.
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And, and, and painting has been somewhat similar for you.
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Yeah, he's definitely similar because, um, obviously he's overcoming mental
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health challenges in life.
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I've got mild paranoid schizophrenia Controlled
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by tablets and medication And art therapy I use
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my art as a way of therapy For myself
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and helping others along the way So if you check out my website
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There's lots of art therapy I've got website pages on there To help people with
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overcoming stress and anxiety I do lots of things for charities We've insured
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safety patrol for the homeless Help on safety patrols now again And I donate
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to them And there's so many charities that try and help.
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I'll just try and do the best I can, and that's through art.
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My guest today is Andrew Alan Matthews. He's an artist and somebody who's taken
11:30
his passion for art and now turned it into therapy and something that's working
11:34
for the good of himself and the good of other people.
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Recognised recently by the mayor of Trafford. We'll be back with him in a couple of minutes' time.
11:44
This is The Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell on Radio Alty.
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Andrew, we were talking, and I can see from your background
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about your style it's a sort of modern take on a
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lorry did you develop that
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or was did it come naturally to you oh i
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kind of developed it over many years because i used to do photo
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realistic artwork and when i was in the
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sex style industry like liberty designs are very
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small and intricate designs it probably take you about four weeks to
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do to reproduce a design or hand
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painted to get ready to get fit on
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coparola so that's very tense and stressful way
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to do not so much stressful but very tense and not free-flowing
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so when i left university when i went to university developed my own style over
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many years from photorealistic portraits and paintings and the it's kind of
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developed a style of my own i call it in a lowry s manner but in my style i
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use what I call the croaking method, which is in the.
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Dictionary, which is a free-flowing movement, which is stress-free and enjoyable to do.
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So I'll do a sketch in like a draftsmanship manner, because I used to do
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engineering drawing when i was at college and then
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from that drawing that it's just like a guide i
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apply paint in thick layers in a
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free acrylic painting thick layers in a free flowing movement once that's dried
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i'll do the highlights then the inking of my characters so the inking really
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brings the characters to life and it's puts the meat on the bones of the paintings
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and then i'll do a short story or poetry surrounding that and it kind of brings a whole boodle together,
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then you'll probably hear that with one of my poems you can read out on the
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Manchester United on a stormy day.
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We'll definitely come to that. Can I just go back to, so when you were serving
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your time, almost your apprenticeship,
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is it that you were basically making the templates almost on the rollers of
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the designs that were coming from the likes of those wallpaper designers?
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Is that what you were doing? So basically, it was mainly textiles.
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In the textile industry, in order to get each colour onto cloth,
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you had to separate each colour onto a separate copper roller or rotary string print.
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And I used to do the artwork, and it was very intricate because if you imagine
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a hairline, a piece of hay, you've got to draw it thinner than that in order
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for the dispersal of ink to go on cloth.
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So if you put a drop of ink on a cloth, it'll disperse. So you've got to calculate
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how much that dispersion would be on the cloth in order for it to work out correctly
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on a piece of textile design.
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You were engraving copper that
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would be on a roller that would create the template to put on the fabric.
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What it was, it's like clay plastic film with paint on that,
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like an opaque brown paint. then he'd get photographed onto the.
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They turn into a photograph onto a screen where the light-sensitive film hits the exposed areas.
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That leaves that area exposed, and it gets washed away, then it gets engraved on the copper rollers.
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That's how it creates the copper rollers in the textile industry.
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And because you were building that up in layers, do you think that has attributed
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to the painting process that you now adopt? Was that a good,
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if you like, apprenticeship?
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To building up your painting skill yeah you
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build up definitely build up i think with any artist you've
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got you've got to build them skills up over
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time and i've definitely put 50 years worth of that into into my art and uh
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yeah i used my inking of my characters which is using a roll stringing pen and
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which is a lot of textile designs you used to use or they still use as well
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and that's where they've got that from.
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So I've developed that from my art and I've also developed my Lowry-esque themes as well.
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So yeah, it's all a whole caboodle over many years that I've developed in my art.
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And so you've been sucking in these different styles and techniques as well
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and bringing it to your art, really?
16:15
That's right. I've done all different types of art. We've watched colours,
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gouache, acrylics and I'm working in acrylics now.
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I like them. that tap of that paint because it's free-flowing and it gives you
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a free-flowing fluid movement to them and that's where you get the stress-free
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element from by applying the paint in my way.
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Is acrylic, so acrylics can be quite hard paint, can it not,
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compared to watercolours?
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Yeah, it's a skill gained over time.
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You start off with large colours and build up to gouaches and then you go on
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to acrylics. And that's what I've done over the years.
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There's definitely a skill in all three areas of using them.
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I've done children's illustrations for books as well.
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So I've created them for my daughter, Emily, growing up and she's now a teacher and a bookseller.
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So she got inspiration from that, hopefully from that.
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But yeah he's he's he's gained over times uh
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this to be an artist like air lowry as well he
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he gained his skills over many many years and he developed his own style he
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choose he chose to paint in his style that's what i do i choose to paint him
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ice there i got you okay and i guess it's something that you're constantly evolving
17:29
you never you know do you ever feel like you're perfected it or you're always picking things up,
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I think with anything, it's like the great masters such as Michelangelo.
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He was always striving perfection. He kind of achieved it in a way in the Sistine
17:44
Chapel, but he was still striving perfection. And I think every artist always strives for that.
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But I'm comfortable in what I do now because mine's not perfection.
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There's beauty in imperfection. And with a slip of a brush or anything,
18:00
it could create a happy outcome.
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A little mistake you think can turn that mistake into something
18:06
brilliant you know and that's what
18:09
I do in my art as well That's a nice way to
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think about it I want to take a break and then talk about what
18:15
you paint because clearly you've been painting football grounds City and United
18:20
there must be more to it as that so today my guest is the artist Andrew Alan
18:24
Matthews we're talking about his art we're talking about his journey into art
18:27
and we'll be soon talking also about his exhibitions that are coming up in the
18:31
local area and we'll take a break and we'll be with him in a couple of minutes time.
18:37
This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell on Radio Alty.
18:44
Now, Andrew, I always find that the industrial backdrop of Manchester provides
18:50
a fantastic landscape and inspiration to paint or to photograph, for example,
18:57
because especially in Manchester now, you've got the 21st century
19:01
Manchester if you like you've still got the 19th and 20th century Manchester
19:05
and and in the northern quarter amongst other places you can see the layers
19:10
of the of the city now you've chosen to to paint football grounds which are
19:14
iconic in themselves what what else do you like to to paint and where do you like to paint,
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So basically, I love to paint all Manchester and Salford scenes mainly,
19:25
the beyond as well, I've done London paintings, but mainly concentrate on Manchester
19:29
and Salford cityscapes depicting how we see Manchester today.
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So I'll choose, go around Manchester or Salford, taking photos.
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Or go on Google and have a look on the maps and things and take images of myself of cityscapes of pubs,
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City Skates of Manchester Skylines and if you go on my website which is andrewallanmatthews.com.uk,
19:55
you'll be able to see lots of my artwork of City Skates and my Passion of Manchester and so forth.
20:00
I've been featuring numerous newspaper articles,
20:04
regarding the preservation of the old buildings I mean there was the Hotspur
20:10
Press which is one of those iconic buildings that mysteriously got burned down by fire,
20:17
like the Rialto in Salford, which is where I used to live, around the corner
20:20
from there, and that was burned down by a mysterious fire as well.
20:26
But the planners decided not to save the building, but demolish it and replace
20:31
it with a McDonald's dry fruit in Salford, which is no heart and soul.
20:35
So I want to preserve all Manchester's old historic buildings.
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I'm all for a modern Manchester, which is all modern. I like bringing the old and new together.
20:48
But as long as you don't destroy our heritage, and that's the main thing.
20:52
It's like the Sir Ralph Abercrombie Pub, which he did a painting of,
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and they got a print in there.
20:59
The Manchester United player wanted to bulldoze it to replace it with his hotel,
21:05
but a petition got signed, and luckily it saved him.
21:08
Now he's on board with redeveloping the pub
21:11
as well now to make it better restoring our
21:14
heritage it is one of the things about manchester it's a
21:17
city in a region that's always been very thriving and forward thinking but you
21:22
have to be careful that you don't lose some of the things that made the city
21:27
and you pointed out the hotspur press for example which i think have has it
21:32
got now a preservation order on it?
21:35
The developers were trying to preserve the building, but it was coming up against
21:40
lots of different barriers with preservationists.
21:45
And we don't know what caused a mysterious fire.
21:49
I think they're really looking at it now. They've got a whole...
21:53
They are going to redevelop it, but I don't know if they're going to be able
21:58
to keep the FAC aid now that it's been so much damage to it.
22:02
I'm hoping they can utilize at least some of it.
22:05
But yeah, there is a big consultation going on at the moment.
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It's on my website. I've done a video on the Hotspur Press Manchester about a story about it as well.
22:15
So if you go to my website, that's on my front page.
22:19
And at the very least, paintings do preserve at least the memory.
22:24
Of some of these places. And you were talking, you've got now an exhibition
22:28
at the Britain's Protection Pub, which I think is one of the greatest pubs,
22:32
if not only in Manchester, in the country.
22:35
There is something unique about that. And there's a number of pubs like that
22:38
in Manchester, but it really is like a traditional pub in the heart of what is a very modern city.
22:44
That's right. And I'm very lucky to be approached by Mark, the landlord of the
22:50
Britain's Protection Pub to have an exhibition in there.
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I'm a permanent resident artist in the pub now so
22:55
the exhibition's on uh all the way through now
22:58
you can go into the pub enjoy a pint look
23:02
at me some fantastic art they've got like lots of poetry they
23:05
are on sale as well there is one painting called piccadilly
23:09
tower manchester which is up for
23:12
sale for the marmalade trust
23:15
to help people with loneliness um so
23:18
that's part of the prince protections pubs charity
23:21
they they're trying to help and I've donated that
23:24
painting to help with that cause and trying to
23:27
raise some funds as well so yeah if
23:30
anybody is interested go in in the pub have a look at it and hopefully put a
23:34
bit in or just like paint it on my website here and you must get a lot from
23:39
the fact that you're doing something you love in painting but it's creating
23:43
a lot of good not only just in people visualising and seeing it but also raising
23:47
money for charities that you're passionate about.
23:50
Yeah, I know you do raise lots of money for different charities.
23:55
But I say I'll try and help out as much as I can and spread that positivity
24:00
for wherever I go, and that's what I'm all about.
24:02
My logo on my bee t-shirt is, I don't know if you can see it,
24:07
but that's a culmination of CBT therapy, which is cognitive behavioral therapy,
24:12
through decades of stress.
24:14
The swallow at the top of the bee represents my wife.
24:18
The B's represents Manchester and myself that you're a bonus dragon in the positive
24:23
cycle bringing in the positive cycle for me in Manchester,
24:27
I'm all about being positive I take a leaf out of my dad's book because that's
24:31
what he drummed into me all my life and my motto is be positive.
24:36
And turn them negative to positive whenever you can You know what,
24:40
that's a very good message and sometimes you've had to go through something
24:44
in order to realise that but it's better that you've been through it and realise
24:48
it, they never realise it really, isn't it, Andrew?
24:51
Yeah, that's right. I think to understand a lot of mental issues,
24:55
you've got to go through it yourself to truly understand what people go through.
25:01
You can empathise with people, because before I had my breakdown in 1996 and
25:06
trying to commit suicide, I used to think, what's the matter?
25:10
We just get out of bed, you know, there's nothing wrong with you. I'm all right.
25:13
But until you realise it yourself, You don't understand truly what it is like
25:17
to have a lot of mental health issues.
25:19
Luckily, I've had the support of my loving wife, and my family and friends and
25:23
medication and help with doctors and had a strong family background,
25:26
but there's a lot of people that haven't got that.
25:29
And I'm just trying to help people along the way.
25:33
I've done Mark Sposson's Project 23 mental health group. I've done a painting
25:39
for him and helped his charity.
25:41
He helps people with mental health issues as well.
25:44
I also help them with Ensure Safety Patrol for homeless people.
25:48
A lot of veterans on the street who need help, army veterans,
25:53
and they're just not getting the help they needed, so I donate to them as well.
25:56
So I try my best, whatever I can do. I'm not a rich man.
26:00
I only work part-time for own bargains in sale, but I do my art as my passion,
26:05
and I'd love to take it big enough if I could.
26:09
Do you know, I think as much as you can look at the times we're in and be very negative about it,
26:15
one of the positives i take is that we can speak
26:18
about mental health and mental health issues much more
26:21
openly now i actually i because
26:24
i i've i've been through my own challenges since
26:27
i had a brain tumor but we can speak a lot
26:30
more openly and a lot more in plain language
26:33
about it that people can understand that's right
26:36
there used to be a big stigma especially back in 96 i i think i couldn't talk
26:40
to anybody and you kind of bottle everything up and when you bottle things up
26:44
you just explode and that's what happens with a lot of people a lot of the time
26:50
it's a cry for help you know a lot of people think if you try and commit suicide
26:55
you're selfish and you're.
26:57
Of your family and everything, but it's true in a way. You're not thinking about
27:00
anything. You're not thinking about yourself. You're not thinking about those
27:03
around you that you're going to hurt.
27:05
You just, your mind's lost and you're just looking for help and you can't see a way out of it.
27:11
So hopefully, like Mark's Boston's Project 23, he helps the community as well.
27:18
So I'm trying to donate back as well in the community.
27:21
There is help out there and, you know, there's plenty of it,
27:26
but you need to know how to look for it.
27:27
And I guess part of what you do is help people understand how to get that help.
27:31
I'm going to take a break. I want to come back and talk about your exhibitions
27:34
because you've got three on coming up or on at the moment.
27:37
One of them's in Goose Green and other one's in Stanley Square and the Britain's Protection Pub.
27:41
My guest today is the artist, Andrew Alan Matthews.
27:45
Can I just ask you, when people refer to you as an artist, that must make you feel good.
27:50
Yeah, it makes me feel very proud because I've achieved my life's ambition to become an artist.
27:58
I might not be a full-time artist yet because I'm working part-time and that pays the bills.
28:03
But yeah, slowly getting there, I think.
28:06
You're an artist. That's what you are. Speaking to the artist,
28:09
Andrew Allen Matthews will be back. We're going to talk about his exhibitions coming up next.
28:15
You're listening to the Late Late Lunch Show. Back to the Garden Childcare,
28:19
where little explorers grow naturally.
28:22
Now Andrew, like a lot of
28:25
modern artists You look at art in
28:28
its roundest form So you do a bit of poetry I'm going
28:31
to hear a poem now from you about Manchester United But I assume that you've
28:36
had to understand the art of promoting as well And engaging with people to share
28:43
and to understand the network of artists And also where you can do exhibitions Yeah,
28:49
Yeah, it's difficult, especially when there's literally millions of artists,
28:54
you know, that are excellent, you know, that are absolutely excellent.
28:58
And they've all got their own valid points across World 2.
29:03
It's difficult to try and do the promotions because I'm just a one-man band
29:07
doing it on myself and not having any help from anybody else.
29:10
But you find that, however, a lot of people, you don't get the help.
29:13
But I've been lucky enough to have been approached by Salford Museum and Art
29:18
Gallery as a solo back in 24, 25. And I had a solo solo.
29:23
I was a solo inaugural artist for the exhibition for six months.
29:28
I was very honoured to be in that prestigious art gallery.
29:33
Where my passion for art came from, when I was five years old,
29:37
so it came full circle where I had a cityscape exhibition at me in Manchester,
29:43
a Sulfur by Knight collection, and I was really made up with that.
29:47
And from there on in, it's kind of like took off from where I am now.
29:52
So yeah yeah and these these small not small
29:55
these milestones are that they
29:58
build up don't you suddenly you can see yourself going from doing
30:01
you build confidence from doing something like that oh definitely
30:05
yeah i mean one of the one of the confidence builders was
30:08
when it was before the exhibition it was when i was doing the offside nostalgia
30:12
collection and i was on an art gallery website and a man from down south called
30:17
john came all the way from down south on a sunday travelled all the way and
30:22
bought me whole Mosside Nostalgia Collection and he,
30:28
bought the whole collection and it was that, it kind of inspired me really,
30:32
and he inspired me so I can thank you John for that if you are listening and yeah he said.
30:41
His first word was said, greetings maestro and I thought that was brilliant that,
30:47
so I know maestro but I don't know Do you know the thing I love about these
30:52
days is that people can get original art in their houses rather than going to
30:57
an Ikea or somewhere else where they get a reproduction.
31:00
There are people out there that will be able to do you a painting which is completely
31:05
unique, which is reasonably affordable, and you can have an original in your house.
31:11
And that's, again, a very precious thing, really, isn't it, Andy?
31:15
Yeah, especially with the age of digital AI, you can create almost anything with AI nowadays.
31:22
Artificial intelligence and to have an original
31:25
or a limited edition signed print by an
31:28
artist is i think something special because some somebody's actually created
31:34
out of their head and using their hands and it's an art in itself to have an
31:39
original piece of work or a limited edition print and to have that on you all
31:43
is is special you know i think not many artists uh to
31:48
have that connection with somebody who's painting it. And it's a talking point, isn't it?
31:53
Oh, yeah. You know, then you also, I think when you buy an original,
31:58
you create a link to the artist, and that, again, is another talking point.
32:03
That's right, and a lot of my arts, the vol-nots of,
32:07
because I do my artwork on people, places, and social issues,
32:11
and all across all my paintings and short stories and poems,
32:17
they do have that in them.
32:19
Not maybe like a, I'm not like a John Cooper Clark. He's just fantastic, but mine's a mob.
32:27
More positive way really
32:30
so but i love john cooper clark he's
32:33
one of my idols along with ellis lowry he's just amazing
32:36
he's he's from something as well so he is and that's
32:40
that's the lovely thing about manchester we have a rich tapestry of artists
32:45
right across the the the the times if you like and and and you know it's it's
32:51
it just goes to show that art isn't just for the socialites, the rich or the famous?
32:58
I used to think before I went into our galleries exhibiting,
33:04
I was like, oh my God, I can't go in there. I'm just a common man.
33:09
I feel out of place, but it's taken me a long time to actually approach galleries
33:16
and things, or they've approached me, actually.
33:19
Like, so for me, I'm using my and it's not as hoity-toity as you think,
33:24
because I used to think being in the art gallery was all hoity-toity, but it's not really.
33:28
So it's that illusion that you get. That's, again, what I like about these times,
33:33
is that those barriers, that hoity-toitiness, have broken away.
33:38
Art is there, and culture is there for everybody. And if you go back to the
33:43
days of the factories, you know, actually, people used to enjoy,
33:49
you know, where they could, poetry.
33:51
The poetry came from the streets of people, didn't they? They made their own
33:55
poems up. They made their own entertainment.
33:57
That's where it came from. That's right. Especially all around the pubs of Manchester.
34:00
They used to have live singing in pubs. And in the old pubs,
34:04
it used to be all, yeah, he's always been from the street.
34:09
It's like football, isn't it? You know, he's always been from the street.
34:12
But now he's like millionaires playing now. Oh, I know.
34:15
Talking about football, you are a very modern artist because you combine the
34:20
word and the vision. and you've got a poem about not your favourite football
34:25
club, but maybe your arch-enemy the Redskins in Manchester Yeah
34:30
Yeah, I'm a Man City fan through and through, but I do paintings of all around
34:34
other football grounds.
34:37
And this one's of Manchester United. But I don't mind doing paintings of both
34:44
sides of Manchester, trying to unite Manchester, a United, a City United.
34:50
That's what we all know. But if you allow me, I can read out a painting,
34:55
a poem of Manchester United by day and a stormy day.
34:59
And if you're watching the video the painting in the background that's donated to,
35:06
both charities that I've done for Trafford Mare
35:09
so here we go Manchester United by a day On a stormy day Wembley in the north
35:14
On the way As fans walk and talk On match day They all say Storm's here today
35:19
Wembley in the north Whipping up a storm On match day Where Devils hunker down
35:23
United ground Sound as a pound Yeah they're going through Bad times Sat on mid-table
35:29
Are you able to turn the sky red? Enough said.
35:32
As dark clouds roll across stormy sky, a guy walks on by.
35:37
Red weather warning today. Been touched to stay away. Red devil say, no way.
35:42
As the balls whooping round, the old traffic ground, sound as a pound.
35:47
Wembley in the north is on the lips. Red slips and slides, glides through rainy and windy weather.
35:53
Mancunian belter. See ya, Manchester United by day. On a stormy day.
35:57
Wembley in the north on the way. As fans walk and talk on match day,
36:01
they all say, Storm's here today.
36:04
Vambley of the North, come forth.
36:06
That's what Patrick's standing there, Bill. That's the pinter.
36:10
I'm the poet, Andrew Ellen Matthews. We'll be back with him and talking about
36:13
his exhibitions after this break.
36:17
This is the Late Late Lunch Show with Rod Maxwell on Radio All Team.
36:23
You know, Andrea, as you were doing that poem, I was thinking about the terraces
36:27
and thinking about the songs and thinking about the chants.
36:30
And they came from the streets, didn't they? They came from the pubs.
36:34
And in many ways, they are now, the older ones, are the poetry of football.
36:39
Yeah, that's right, Andy. In a way, I can hope to think that my short stories
36:45
and poems are chants from the ground of Man City, Man United,
36:50
Stockport County, Oldham other grounds I've painted as well so I'd like to think it'd be.
36:57
Represented in that in a modern way, yeah and of course you've got some visual
37:03
art on display so you've got three exhibitions are they currently going,
37:07
there's one at Goose Green here
37:08
in Altrincham at the Goose Green Art Gallery, so what's on show there?
37:13
So you've got the Bricklayer's Arms you've got the,
37:17
marketplace that's on there as well I've got a Lowry Centre,
37:23
painting in there another one, I can't quite remember what that one is but there's
37:28
four paintings on show there at the moment, it's already a small exhibition
37:31
but they're on permanent show and they are for sale in the prestigious gallery there.
37:36
And again the Bricklayer's Arms, you know, an iconic pub right in the heart of Ultringham,
37:40
Ultringham a town that's forever changing and the market those are very iconic
37:45
buildings in the town yeah they're very iconic buildings I've done a whole collection
37:50
of Altrincham on my website and so we've all poem short stories to them,
37:55
and I hope if you ever get a chance to go on my website andrewarlanmatthews.com
38:00
at UK you can check it out and you've also got some paintings on display at
38:05
Stanley Square and Sale yeah Stanley Square and Sale next to Pure Gym there's
38:10
like a corridor gallery between Spring Springfield Road,
38:15
And Sale is becoming a right cosmopolitan place now.
38:20
And I've got 20 limited edition prints hanging up on the wall with all QR codes
38:25
to all the short stories on my website.
38:28
If you're ever in Sale, check it out. I think you might enjoy them.
38:33
All right, okay, very good. And then the final one is in the Britain's Protection
38:36
Pub, a wonderful pub as we spoke before. You've got some art on display in there?
38:41
Yeah, I've got a permanent exhibition in there, the Britain's Protection Pub
38:45
in Manchester one of the most iconic pubs in Manchester my favourite pub get down to the pub,
38:51
they're all for sale with limited edition prints and stories and hopefully you'll
38:56
enjoy your experience in the Britain's Protection Pub it's such an iconic pub
39:00
they've got murals of the Peterloo Massacre where back in the day,
39:05
they ended up in there getting help from the pub as well so yeah,
39:10
it's a historic pub do go through it.
39:13
It's one of my favourite pubs. It is and you know every city I think has that
39:17
type of pub you know that sort of pub with tiles on, bare floors and there's
39:24
an atmosphere about it isn't there?
39:25
You can almost feel that the poets and the authors and the painters of time
39:30
were going in there and sharing stories and you can almost feel that history can't you?
39:37
Yeah it's actually it was his history that pub The whole building itself is
39:42
just steeped in it. It's fantastic. It is fantastic.
39:45
So if people want to follow you, where do they go?
39:49
You can go on Instagram, Andy Allen Matt. My website, which is andrewallanmatthews.com.uk.
39:57
I'd like to also mention about the charities that I've donated to this one.
40:04
The first one is with Trafford Mayor.
40:06
The Trafford Mayor's Charity. She's raising funds for the ME Association,
40:11
Trafford Carers and Trafford Parks and Green Spaces.
40:14
I've donated the Manchester United limited edition print.
40:18
You can actually go on to auctionofpromises.com, the Mayor of Trafford Charity,
40:26
and you can place a bid for that limited edition print. It'll go to a worthy cause.
40:32
I've just been invited by the same side Mayor Charities from the Bowl.
40:36
Her charities are Willow Wood Hospice, which provides specialists in palliative
40:41
and under-life care, the Women's Trust Fund Buckingfield Branch,
40:46
for Christie Charity, for the Christie Hospital, and Hyde's Bangladesh Welfare Association.
40:52
You can find her fundraising on peoplesfundraising.com, the Mayor of Tameside.
40:59
And hopefully try and get some money raised for them two charities as well.
41:05
Yeah that hopefully will raise some good money for the causes
41:08
well that is fantastic i have to say when when art
41:11
becomes therapy and becomes a way of
41:14
raising money for charity and ultimately something that
41:17
people enjoy looking at i think you've almost got job
41:20
done there um andrew it's been a pleasure to speak to you i'm so
41:23
glad we bumped into each other the other night and i've
41:26
been there not the best places to meet up but there you go
41:29
sometimes they're the best places i'll be honest with you but it's always good
41:34
to have a chat and andrew thank you very much indeed thank you rod you it's
41:39
a pleasure this is the late late lunch show with back to the garden childcare
41:45
where little explorers grow naturally.