This painting captures an everyday moment yet gives it a soft beauty.
I love the colours used and the atmosphere Phyllis creates with gentle brush strokes.
‘Woman Shopping at Indoor Market Stall’ by Phyllis Hanson Watercolour, 1940s.
Phyllis was featured in our Extraordinary Women exhibit, and you can see she was a very talented woman. Phyllis excelled in art, but her father refused to allow her to go to art school. Phyllis was instead trained to work with her father, Fred Hanson, owner of a saddlery and leather goods business. She took over the shop in Chesterfield in 1952 when Fred died.
Her love for art never went away, and Phillis was well known as an artist locally. She constantly produced watercolours and sketches, including many scenes of Chesterfield and the Lake District.
In 1964, one of Phyllis’ artworks was displayed in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.
There is a certain sadness to the fact that Phyllis never got to explore her full potential as an artist, and it makes you wonder what her career could have been had she gone to art school. Yet, despite this setback, Phyllis still had the desire and need to create, and went on to produce wonderful work and become well known for her art. We can now look back upon her large body of work and reflect on her tenacious creativity.
Phyllis was a familiar face around Chesterfield, especially on the market where she sold fresh produce from her allotment. She passed away in 1994.