Great year for lovers of landscape painting
Galleries across the North West celebrating 250 years of Turner | 5 arty skills to learn in 2025 | Latest NW arts news
Visitors to Tate Hall when it reopens in September are going to struggle to decide where to place their attention. Will their eyes be drawn through the Victoria Gallery & Museum’s top floor windows to the view of Liverpool’s rooftops? Or will they find themselves gazing upon the wooden beams above their heads, to the carved crests of benefactor Sir Henry Tate and the University of Liverpool, and Lancashire’s red rose?
I have to confess that I did both of those during a behind-the-scenes tour of Tate Hall this week. But judging from plans for its launch, most focus will be on its first exhibition since closing for roof repairs back in 2020. Centring on the concept of the “lightbulb moments” that trigger great ideas, it will show a mixture of items we’ve missed seeing while the museum has been closed, alongside objects borrowed from The National Archives, to tell stories of ingenuity that initiated in Liverpool.
But what makes it really interesting is that the team putting the exhibition together are asking local people and community groups to share the ideas that have inspired them. They say that alongside subjects like science, medicine, technology and engineering, they would like to feature “great ideas of human endeavour, creative output, explorations of our world, social developments and more”.
If you’d like to get involved, you can email Gemma Jaleel at the University of Liverpool at gjaleel@liverpool.ac.uk
A shedload of Turner to look forward to
There’s a great story about Turner’s response to seeing his rival Constable’s seascape Helvoetsluys hung alongside his own The Opening of Waterloo Bridge at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in 1832. Concerned that his work might be upstaged, he added a single flourish of red in the sea, which he later tweaked to look like a buoy.
Constable’s reaction?: “He has been here and fired a gun.”
This year, the 250th anniversary of Joseph Mallord William Turner’s birth, he has only himself to compete with as galleries across the UK shake out their collections to find his works to display. There are events and exhibitions planned all over the country - including wildlife pictures at the home he designed in Twickenham; four of paintings of the Bridges at Walton at Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery; and an exploration of his connection with Jane Austen at Harewood House (which I’m particularly looking forward to) - although he will be forced to share the spotlight with his old adversary Constable in a show at Tate Britain.

Here in the North West, we have at least three exhibitions of his work to look forward to. First up, the Victoria Gallery & Museum in Liverpool is delving into the ‘golden age’ of British watercolour painting by presenting Turner’s work alongside that of his contemporaries. As well as displaying five of his watercolours from the University of Liverpool collection - including Vale of Ashburnham (above), the show will explore the interconnecting lives and artistic influences of renowned figures including Thomas Girtin, John Sell Cotman, David Cox Snr and Samuel Prout. The exhibition opens this weekend so get along to whet your appetite for the year ahead.

From next month, in Turner: In Light and Shade at The Whitworth in Manchester, visitors will be able to see his Liber Studiorum in its entirety for the first time in more than a century. This series of landscape and seascape engravings are considered to be central to his artistic practice - his technique, skill and ideas.
The prints will be shown with a series of Turner’s watercolours from the Whitworth’s collection, as well as loaned works from public and private collections.
And then in October, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool will open Turner: Always Contemporary, looking at the enduring impact of his work on later generations of artists. It will include National Museums Liverpool's collection of Turner's oil paintings, works on paper and prints, alongside modern and contemporary artworks delving into the themes of travel, landscape and artistic experimentation. We can expect pieces by Claude Monet, Ethel Walker, Bridget Riley and more.
JMW Turner & his Contemporaries - Watercolours from the University of Liverpool Collection is at the Victoria Gallery & Museum until Saturday, May 31.
Turner: In Light and Shade is at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, from Friday, February 7 to – Sunday, November 2.
Turner: Always Contemporary is at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool from Saturday, October 25 to Saturday, February 22, 2026.
Latest arts news
🖊️ Irish author Marian Keyes will be visiting St George’s Hall in Liverpool for “an evening with” event, celebrating the paperback release of My Favourite Mistake. Organised by independents Linghams Booksellers and Booka Bookshop, it will take place on Monday, February 17. Tickets are £25 and include a signed copy of the paperback.
🎤 The full cast has been announced for the first ever UK and Ireland tour of Tina - the Tina Turner Musical, which coming to the Liverpool Empire (Tuesday, August 12 to Saturday, August 23) and Manchester Palace Theatre (Tuesday, November 25 to Saturday, January 3, 2026). Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi and Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy will share the iconic role of Tina Turner, alongside David King-Yombo as Ike Turner, and Martin Allanson as record producer Phil Spector.
🖼️ Birkenhead’s Williamson Art Gallery will launch six new exhibitions next month. They include work by Birkenhead-born British impressionist Philip Wilson Steer, a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the death of Wallasey-trained war artist Albert Richards, an immersive journey into the inner worlds of soil and the subconscious mind in Subterranean Elevator by Di Mainstone, a retrospective by Landlines Studio and documentary photography by Marge Bradshaw and a celebration of the life of Elizabeth Smolen, a Polish refugee who settled in Birkenhead and became a champion scooter racer and successful businesswoman. More to follow in a future edition of Stored Honey.
👜 A revival of Moira Buffini’s comedy Handbagged, imagining a conversation between Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher, will tour across England, stopping off at Lowry, Salford (Tuesday, March 18 to 18th to Saturday, March 22) and Blackpool Grand (Tuesday, April 8 to Saturday, April 12). It’s being produced by Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in partnership with the National Theatre.
In case you missed it
5 arty skills to learn in 2025
Do you have a creative skill that you use to wind down from the day job? For me it’s crochet - I started about three years ago and wasn’t very good at it (tense, tight stitches, messy colour changes) but I found the rhythm destressing, and enjoyed making something with no pressure to excel. Three years on and our house is filled with blankets and I can follow most patterns fairly easily - I’m even starting to design my own.
If you’re thinking of taking up a new skill (without necessarily having to actually be skilled in it) then here are some suggestions of courses and sessions run by North West artists and makers.
Drink & Draw @ Make Hamilton Square, Wirral: A monthly life drawing class where you can have fun doodling and sketching in a relaxed setting. Held in the cozy Nettle café, sessions include a cheeseboard and glass of wine. Bring your preferred materials for an untaught session welcomes beginners and seasoned artists. Friday, January 31, 6-8pm, £20.
Beginners Ceramics, Lush Spa, Liverpool: Run by dot-art, this six-week course will familiarise you with the basics of hand building your very own ceramic pieces in beautiful glazes and fired for you. Mondays, 6.30-8.30pm, starting on Monday February 17, £125.
Wire Wrapped Jewellery Making Class, Leyland Studio: In this session organised by community artist and tutor Chrissy Webster, learn how to use plated wire to add definition and flair to beads and sea glass. Sunday, February 16, 2-5pm, £30 (£10 deposit required in advance).
Mixed-media textures, Creative Arts Courses, Manchester: An in-depth guide to creating mixed-media textures using a wide variety of materials and techniques. All materials included. Sunday, March 9 or Sunday, June 22, 10am-4.30pm, £85.
Colour Mixing - Landscape Palette, Cheshire Art Classes, Farndon: Master landscape painting colour mixing. Saturday, March 15, four-hour class from 10am, £65.
Opening this week
The LAKE Gallery in West Kirby’s first exhibition of the year, Figures and Spaces, features the work of two artists exploring human figures and the spaces they inhabit. Liverpool-based printmaker Lindsey Moran’s work explores the rich tapestry woven into architectural landmarks and spaces, while Wirral-based figurative artist Peter Macaulay explores the human form, often distorted to a degree to express an idea. Runs from Thursday, January 30 to Saturday, March 1.
Last chance to see
Today is the last day of David Hockney’s immersive experience Bigger & Closer (not smaller and further away) at Manchester’s Aviva Studios - you can see what I had to say about it here (spoiler - loved it). At the time of writing, all slots were sold out but it’s always worth giving them a call to see if there have been any returns.
Thank you for reading the 114th edition of Stored Honey. If you enjoyed what you read then please hit the ❤️ button as it helps to get it shown more widely.
I’m off now to start writing the monthly edition - a curated guide of things to do in February - which only goes out to paid subscribers. So if you’d like to receive that then tap the “subscribed” button below to see options, which start at just 77p per week.
In the meantime, you can get hold of me on Instagram, on Bluesky, in the comments or by replying to this email.
Have a great week,
Laura
P.S. Leap Dance Festival has big plans for Sefton Park Palm House in Liverpool