Urban Watercolours

Change in the Midlands – Urban and Industrial Watercolours is a new book of paintings by Arthur Lockwood, a member of the Birmingham Society of Artists. From the publisher’s site:

Without making judgements, Arthur Lockwood has dedicated himself to recording the demolition of nineteenth-century buildings and the construction of new landmarks such as the Bull Ring Shopping Centre in Birmingham. Alongside this, he set out to document the decline of the region’s manufacturing, painting working factories and foundries before many were closed down and some of them demolished.

In Oldbury he recorded the last line of working drop hammers and in Wolverhampton the last manufacturer of tacks and cut nails. In Birmingham he painted the last drop forge in the city.

The book contains over 100 paintings selected from twenty years’ work.

Here’s a couple of examples of his work, nicked from this informative essay.

Coombs Wood Works from the Dudley Canal

The Core Shop, Sidney Smith Castings.

One would hope the book is available in our local bookshops but if not you can get it from Amazon (with a sourcing fee) or direct from the publisher.

via the invaluable D’log