Cast your vote in the Appetite Audience Choice award
Our Community Decision Makers reviewed all of the entries for this years Three Counties Open Art exhibition and came up with the shortlist for the Appetite Audience Choice Award. Now it’s your turn to take a look and cast your vote.
The twenty works selected can be seen below. When you are ready to cast your vote you can do this online by clicking the voting link.
The works can also be seen at the exhibition which is taking place at Fenton Town Hall this year between Saturday 9 August and Saturday 30 August, open Tues – Sat 11am-3pm. Voting in person is available at the exhibition.
The Three Counties Open Art exhibition is an open-call visual arts exhibition featuring artists from Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. The exhibition includes work from a wide range of mediums: from painting to printmaking, drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles, moving image and installation-based works. It is free to visit the exhibition.
Image Description: The Hush of Snow
A winter landscape with snow-covered ground and bare trees dusted with snow. Dense green foliage stands out in the centre, framed by more trees and a cloudy sky, creating a serene and chilly atmosphere..
Louise studied locally at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, where she gained a 1st hons degree in Surface Pattern, going on to an MA in design at the Royal College of Art. Louise eventually became Art Director at The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company, and left there in 2013 to work as an artist, freelance designer and to teach.
The Hush of Snow was painted on January 8, 2025, in the afternoon through a window looking south after snowfall.
Louise often paints every day, usually outside at her home in the Staffordshire Moorlands. She is interested in landscape and nature, changes of colour, light and texture, sounds, stillness and movement. The painting depicts a hedge enclosing the garden, a layer of mist flattening the world beyond.
Image Description: Grief
A shadow of a person on a bridge is cast onto a body of water. The water contains floating debris, and the scene is tinted with green hues from plants and reflections.
Grief is the deepest green, in all its colours, shades and tones. It is as profound as the ocean and as encompassing. It swallows our soul and washes over us in waves, it bears away our past and leaves us to make ourselves anew, sea changed, aware of our loss but determined to rise up again.
This piece was taken following the death of a dearly beloved friend and companion. It shows the shadow of the artist, thrown onto the shallows of the sea where it washes against a sea wall.
The shadow represents the soul of the bereaved, the sea represents the inevitability of change and transformation.
Image Description: Saint of the Unseen
A richly detailed portrait of a woman with intricate floral and symbolic patterns adorning her skin and hair, surrounded by vibrant flowers and a glowing golden halo. The artwork blends elements of fantasy, nature, and strength, creating a powerful and radiant presence.
This portrait is presented as a tribute to the unseen strength of women particularly Black women who are so often unacknowledged despite being the backbone of our communities. The artist is drawn to painting women, compelled by the belief that their stories deserve visibility and reverence.
The gold halo symbolises purity and sanctity, reimagining everyday women as the true saints of our time. Tattoos, often burdened by social stigma, are celebrated here as personal and cultural art an appreciation shaped by the artist’s three-month tattoo apprenticeship.
This piece challenges societal perceptions and invites viewers to reconsider what we choose to sanctify in both art and life.
Image Description: Urgent Lemons
A vibrant painting of lemons and green leaves arranged on a black and white striped plate, set against a textured pink background. The composition includes whole and halved lemons, creating a fresh and lively still life.
Lucy Caddel creates joyful, vibrant contemporary vanitas still life paintings, blending a Latino-inspired colour palette with sensory richness and emotional resonance. Known as Shropshire Tropicalia — or as she puts it, ‘dopamine dressing for your walls’ — her work celebrates the textures, sights, sounds, and tastes of everyday pleasures: the bright yellow of lemons, the softness of fur, the smell of exotic fruits, the warmth of vinyl, and the flavour of a heady cocktail.
Lemons are a recurring symbol in Caddel’s work, representing concentrated light, life, and love. Their energy speaks to the promise of renewal and possibility. The motif was born from a formative moment at university, when a tutor responded to an early oil painting by exclaiming: “Well, if it’s possible to make a lemon look urgent, Lucy, you’ve certainly done it here — an urgent f-ing lemon.” That phrase, equal parts critique and celebration, became a defining thread in her visual language and the namesake for this exuberant piece.
Image Description: The Bridge at Penmachno
A scenic view of a narrow stream rushing through a rocky gorge, surrounded by lush greenery. An old stone bridge arches over the water, with trees and foliage framing the scene. The piece is textured by the material used to create it.
The Bridge at Penmachno. 2025
by Christine Cole @cgcole52
Freehand machine embroidery on hand-painted silk
Christine Cole is a textile artist who turned to freehand machine embroidery following early retirement from a career in teaching. Combining her love of art and nature, she has developed a distinctive approach using hand-painted silk as a base for embroidered landscapes, seascapes, and gardens – often inspired by photographs taken by herself, family, and friends.
She has exhibited in numerous shows, including the Three Counties Open Art Exhibitions and the Stitch by Stitch Exhibitions in 2023 and 2025. Her work was selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2024 and also featured in the Broderers Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery, London, in early 2025.
The Bridge at Penmachno is based on a photograph taken by the artist’s husband during a mountain biking trip in Wales. Painted habutai silk serves as the foundation for intricate stitching using only straight and zigzag stitches. By adjusting thread tension and layering a variety of coloured cottons, Cole achieves rich texture and depth, capturing the moss-covered rocks and wooded surroundings of the Welsh landscape.
Image Description: Pagoda fountain Alton Towers
A woven collage depicting a multi-tiered pagoda-like structure with ornate railings and hanging bells, set in gardens. The image blends black-and-white and color elements, with trees and greenery in the background.
Andie is a photographer and artist based in Staffordshire. She mainly focuses on alternative photography such as cyanotypes and photo weaves but she also paints and sketches.
This is a dual tone, 2/2 mirrored pointed twill weave photo weave of the Pagoda Fountain at Alton Towers.
Image Description: A Mischief of Magpies
A stained glass artwork featuring two birds – one perched, one in flight – amid botanical designs. The glass is sectioned with varied textures and colours, mainly blue, clear, and yellow. Mounted on a metal stand on a windowsill, with an outdoor view behind.
Rebecca Davis has been making and restoring stained glass for many years and has always loved antique and salvaged glass. She now focuses on creating art glass and gift pieces using her collection of vintage glass, drawing on her restoration experience to hand-paint and kiln-fire her designs. The textures of old glass are a particular fascination — each piece refracts light in its own unique way. Rebecca typically uses the Tiffany method of copper foiling, soldering the glass sections together to create beautiful leaded lights.
In recent years, Rebecca has been creating more nature-inspired works. This piece was inspired by her delight in discovering that a group of magpies is called a “mischief.”
Each section of recycled glass was carefully selected for its texture, then painted with stain and enamel, and kiln-fired multiple times to bring the artwork to life.
Image Description: A Little Bird with Big Energy!
A close-up of a blue tit perched on a branch, featuring vibrant blue and green plumage with a white face and dark blue markings around its eyes and neck. The dark background enhances the bird’s striking colours.
A Little Bird with Big Energy! 2025
by Stacey Dulson
Photography
Stacey Dulson is a keen amateur photographer, always on the lookout for the next photo opportunity. On this particularly dull day, while walking through woodland to shelter from the rain, she was unexpectedly joined by a vibrant blue tit that perched nearby and seemed to pose for the camera. The moment lifted her mood and brightened the day.
Image Description: Goldfinches
An illustration of two goldfinches among branches, leaves, and thistles. One bird is in flight, the other perched, both rendered with vibrant plumage. Earthy tones with touches of green and blue form a harmonious natural backdrop.
Louise produces complex, colourful linocuts which express her simple joy at the natural world around her home in the Staffordshire Moorlands and the effect of the seasons on the atmosphere that the scenery gives.
Louise is a self-taught printmaker who has worked in the creative industry for most of her career. Painting Moorcroft Pottery she enjoyed being surrounded by beautiful designs and the layering of colour on the pots was not dissimilar to the way the reduction process works. With subsequent colours being affected by those previously applied.
Louise continues to express her fascination with the magic of printmaking and continuously strives to improve, both technically and artistically. Goldfinches contains a nod to the most famous goldfinch artwork in the lower bird, with the branches and the swirl of the stylised teasel seed pattern reflecting the bars and chain of The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. The teasels were included to remember a friend and colleague.
Image Description: Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke
A framed artwork depicting an industrial structure, set against a vibrant blue sky. Rust tones highlight the building’s aged texture, while detailed ink drawings of plants in the foreground add contrast and depth.
Local artist Gary Eite, based in Longport, is fascinated by urban and industrial landscapes. He has sketched, painted, and printed numerous scenes from across the Stoke-on-Trent area, capturing its rich industrial heritage — from canals to factories.
This piece was created following a tour of Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, which operated as a working mine from 1830 to 1977. It depicts one of the site’s former pit buildings, now slowly being reclaimed by nature. The image reflects not just decay, but resilience — the rusty blue tones of the structure speak to both decay and enduring presence. The scene stands as a powerful reminder of the area’s industrial heritage.
Image Description: Silver Oak, Tea and Cardamom
A vibrant abstract landscape painting featuring tall, slender trees with sparse leaves. The background is layered with bold shades of purple, blue, pink, yellow, and orange, evoking an impressionistic sky or distant mountains.
Raji Mahesh is an Indian-born artist, currently based in Staffordshire. She finds inspiration from nature and primarily draws from memory and her imagination. Her recent body of work, ‘Trees of India’ features beautiful Indian trees painted in the brilliant vibrant colours characteristic of that region.
Raji has exhibited her work both locally and in London. She maintains a daily drawing practice. She is an elected Associate of The Royal Birmingham Society Of Artists (ARBSA), elected member of Society of Staffordshire Artists (SSA) and an elected member of Birmingham Art Circle (BAC). She is a also a friend of the New English Art Club (NEAC).
This painting, Silver Oak, Tea and Cardamom, is part of the artist’s Trees of India series, inspired by a return visit to Kerala in South India — their childhood home. These nature-based journeys offer both personal renewal and rich learning experiences.
During time spent in Munnar in the Western Ghats, the artist observed how shade trees such as silver oak are strategically planted across tea estates. Tea, being a shade-loving plant, thrives beneath such canopies, which help regulate the microclimate by lowering temperatures, reducing wind speed, and increasing relative humidity. This environment directly influences the growth, photosynthesis, and yield of the tea.
The composition includes terraced rows of tea and cardamom shrubs, a spice native to Kerala, all rendered in the vibrant colours characteristic of the region.
Image Description: Connecting with the Deer Trods
A detailed black and white illustration of a forest scene, featuring a deer and a person wearing a deer headpiece. They are framed by tall trees and intricate branches. The person faces forward while the deer turns towards the viewer. A large tree with exposed roots and a hollow anchors the right side, with dense foliage at the base.
The artist is an illustrator, maker, and storyteller inspired by folklore, magic, and witchcraft. The illustrations and objects she creates are interwoven into narratives drawn from her own personal experiences and stories shared by others. At the heart of her work is a deep connection with earth and energy, and the rituals passed down by ancestors.
‘The ‘deer trods’ are ancient migration pathways made by herds of deer as they made their way to new pasture. Our ancestors would in turn follow these sacred routes as they meandered through geological patterns and water courses. These ancient pathways still thread their way through the landscape today, hidden to be rediscovered by those who are drawn to reconnect with the wilderness that calls. The guardian of these sacred tracks is known as ‘Elen of the Ways’; she is the soul of the forest who bestows balance between the varied energies of the land. She offers her hand to walk alongside you as you step onto the deer trods and enter the forest.’
Image Description: Phoenix Lamp
A tall, sculptural lamp with a ribbed texture and a segmented form, divided by two black bands. It glows in shades of white, green, and red, with a pointed top, rounded middle, and tapered base.
Inspired by nature’s enigmatic power to shape extraordinary forms, alongside Gaudí’s biomorphic architecture, Aneliya Stoyanova’s work becomes a dialogue between emotion and material. Sculpting in VR and shaping through CAD and parametric design, she translates evolving visions into tangible clay — porcelain, luminous and delicate — capturing the ephemeral in form. Light becomes her brushstroke, illuminating textures and revealing the dance between presence and impermanence.
For Aneliya, art is a sanctuary — a way to unravel darkness, find serenity, and offer others a glimpse into resilience. Each piece speaks of harmony between nature, humanity, and technology, inviting reflection on power, fragility, and the rhythm of existence. With a strong awareness of our responsibility for the future, she embraces sustainable practices such as 3D printing with clay, balancing innovation and tradition while honouring natural materials.
The Phoenix Lamp embodies the strength and resilience of the mythical phoenix — a symbol of renewal and perseverance. It represents the ability to rise again, no matter how many times life brings us down. Light plays a central role, highlighting the form and reinforcing the idea of transformation. Crafted through digital design and 3D printing, the lamp features Parian body porcelain for its luminous quality, with burnt wood adding depth and symbolism — echoing the phoenix’s cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Image Description: You Looing at Me!
A vibrant painted portrait of a man wearing an orange and white durag, a white vest, and a gold chain, gazing directly at the viewer with a calm, confident expression. The warm, blurred background and soft textures give the painting an intimate, expressive feel.
You Looking at Me! 2025
by Milda Tabbernor
Coloured pencil and pastel
Milda Tabbernor began painting again after retiring in 2016, rediscovering a lifelong love of art that has since become a joyful and transformative part of her life. Now aged 71, she attends classes led by local artist Jo Watson, whose guidance and encouragement have inspired her to embrace new techniques and challenges. While she originally focused on landscapes, Tabbernor has recently ventured into portraiture — You Looking at Me! is only her second portrait, following an earlier piece depicting her grandson.
This drawing was inspired by a photograph by Samir Vanegas, discovered on Unsplash. Captivated by the vivid orange glow on the subject’s headgear and skin, she chose to recreate it using coloured pencils on Pastlemat paper, which allowed for multiple layers and subtle detailing. Tabbernor finds greater control with pencils over paint and completed the background using pan pastels. The texture of the beard was created with an embossing tool to indent the surface, later layered with pencil, while the skin’s smoothness was achieved through careful blending with a white pencil. Her work reflects both technical experimentation and a growing confidence — proof that it’s never too late to explore new creative paths.
Image Description: Eve
A painted portrait of a girl looking up at the viewer while sipping a drink through a green straw from a clear takeaway cup. Her large eyes and the playful graphic print on her top add a bold, youthful energy to the piece.
‘This is my daughter, Eve. Eve is autistic. I painted this portrait of her to capture her character, her achievements, her transition into a creative young woman.
‘She is looking you directly in the eye. She has bleached her hair and painted her nails. She is wearing a top that links to her special interests. She is drinking a Frappuccino.
‘She looks like a typical 14-year-old, but the journey she has been on to reach this stage in her life, to show this level of confidence, has been immense and I am incredibly proud of everything she is becoming.’
Image Description: Night Library
A detailed black and white drawing of an old library or study room, with towering bookshelves packed with books and stacks lining the wooden floor. The arched ceiling and stone walls evoke a medieval atmosphere, while bottles, jars, and decorative items add character.
Night Library
by Ruth Tucker
Pen and ink
Image Description: Up to the Castle
A forest pathway lined with tall trees, their foliage a mix of green and orange, suggesting an autumn setting. The ground is carpeted with fallen leaves, and the path stretches into the distance, creating a strong sense of depth.
Up to the Castle
by Trevor Gilbert
Acrylic
Image Description: Building Tomorrow
An outdoor installation, featuring three oversized toy building blocks painted in bold yellow, red, and blue. Splashed with expressive paint and graffiti-like text e.g. “SOT 100” on the yellow block. The blocks rest on a grassy field.
Building Tomorrow
by Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu @yuliia_art_uk_ua
Slip cast ceramic (standard white earthenware clay), underglaze, glaze
Yuliia Holovatiuk-Ungureanu is a Ukrainian multidisciplinary practitioner working across ceramics, installation, painting, photography, found objects, video, and archival materials. Her practice emerges from rupture — shaped by war, forced displacement, and the need to hold on to memory amidst destruction. She collects fragments: burned household items, damaged surfaces, forgotten language — and recomposes them into artworks that carry both grief and the quiet urgency to rebuild.
Themes of war, exile, motherhood, and resilience run through her work — not as spectacle, but as lived, tender confrontation. Now based in Stoke-on-Trent, the world capital of ceramics, Yuliia uses fragile materials — clay, pigment, thread — as bearers of history and emotional charge. Rather than beautify trauma, her work engages in acts of witnessing and reinvention.
Conceived in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this work reflects on what it means to build while so much is being destroyed. Large slip-cast ceramic bricks — both weighty and fragile — carry imprints from the natural world along the Caldon Canal in Stoke-on-Trent, the city that became her new home. Words embedded in the surface speak of motherland, childhood, grief, and beginnings. This ongoing project offers gestures of healing, resilience, and reinvention.
Through the language of play and the groundedness of clay, Building Tomorrow considers how we might shape futures in uncertain times — layer by layer, word by word — reclaiming imagination as a tool for survival and material as a keeper of memory.
Image Description: Young Conversations
Two children sit on outdoor steps, dressed warmly in jumpers, jeans and hats. They are happily leaning into one another, laughing. The background features buildings and railings.
Young Conversations. 2024
by Eleanor Walker
Acrylic paints
Eleanor Walker is drawn to the way the past can evoke a sense of nostalgia for a forgotten place and time, while also suggesting the changes of the present and the ambiguity of the future. Her work focuses on human emotions and interactions from both past and present, often depicting people engaged in everyday living and mundane activities.
The inspiration behind Young Conversations was to capture the gentleness of times gone by and the simplicity of human interaction. The artist’s intention was to evoke a sense of the past. The muted colours of the piece are used to reflect the calmness that nostalgia brings to the viewer.
Image Description: Untitled by Karl Webster
An abstract artwork with a rich, layered texture and a dark palette of black, blue, and green. Lighter tones of white and yellow emerge from the depths.
Untitled. 2024
by Karl Webster
Mixed media on canvas
Karl Webster’s practice in painting and sculpture offers a contemporary investigation into the natural landscape. Deeply influenced by his immersion in the English landscape — particularly the Peak District — his work reflects on location, the passage of time, and the healing powers of nature. Through experimental methodologies such as walking, drawing, and writing-as-research, he subverts conventional landscape traditions.
Positioning himself as a dérive (wanderer), Webster interprets intimate encounters with place, geology, natural phenomena, and philosophical ideas, to the viewer. By focusing on familiar sites, liminal spaces, and found objects, he isolates moments of his surroundings through the exploration of material, colour, and form to uncover the less physical terrain through the archaeology of painting and sculpture. These layered compositions often emerge from a self-reflective, expressive process — an archaeological process that unearths a form to the surface.
In this work, the landscape is not represented directly, but filtered through emotion, thought, and physical engagement with material. Resin acts as both a preservative and a barrier, holding traces while partially obscuring them. This tension between presence and absence mirrors the layered nature of memory and terrain. The piece becomes a quiet excavation, uncovering something felt rather than seen.
More from the Three Counties Open Art Exhibition 2025
Visit the website for full details Three Counties Open Art 2025 – Keele University
Facebook @artskeele
Instagram: @artskeele
Visit the Three Counties Open Art exhibition
11am – 3pm Tuesday to Saturday, from Saturday 9 August – Saturday 30 August
Venue Details: Fenton Town Hall, Albion Square, Fenton, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 3AF
