After getting the keys to her latest gallery, the UK’s Most Popular Published Artist, Lucy Pittaway opened her York gallery at the end of March to great success.

Lucy took the next step in expanding her unique art brand by opening her first city-centre gallery in the heart of York. Coming full circle, Lucy's decade-long career culminates in her collections finding their way to the capital of Yorkshire, the regional epicentre that continues to provide endless inspiration and feature in the backdrop of many of her pieces.

This is Lucy’s sixth solo gallery and follows in the footsteps of her existing galleries by making art accessible and this latest gallery compliments the already rich retail offering and bring art to the forefront of York.

Following the opening of the gallery, Lucy released her latest collection, The Dogs Collection. Stepping away from sheep in favour of dogs, with her latest collection featuring everyone's favourite four-legged friends.  

York Press:

What inspired the new collection – why dogs? 

I grew up with dogs in our family, we had four at one point along with other animals; cats, chickens, guinea pigs. Dogs have always been part of my life and it feels very relaxing and natural to be around them. I’ve had so many different breeds across the years and they give you so much joy and companionship; it’s a special connection we have with our pets. It’s been on the cards for a while, it was just a case of finding the right time. My hope for this collection is that it’s another body of work that brings people joy and they smile when they see the humour in the pieces. All dogs have such different personalities and character traits and I hope I get these across in my pieces. 

It helps that my team are also dog crazy, we have 51 staff members and over 45 dogs between them!  

York Press:

Have you enjoyed creating the collection? 

It’s been a real rollercoaster this one. I’ve loved every minute of it, but it hasn’t always been easy, some pieces have been incredibly challenging. No matter how much I love dogs, the reality of painting them was out of my comfort zone. As a subject, dogs are quite different to sheep, and it took me a while to fully understand this and be able to represent the expressions and personalities of each one. This was particularly difficult on the pieces that included multiple dogs because I was trying to accurately reflect the breed and facial expressions based on the context of the piece whilst also keeping it light-hearted and quirky. 

York Press:

About Lucy Pittaway   

As the ‘UK’s Most Popular Published Artist’*, Lucy is a multi-award winning artist, proudly running a family-owned business with beautiful art galleries and a successful e-commerce website serving customers around the world. Offering stunning original works of art, Giclee prints and striking canvases as well as ceramics, textiles, and stationery; making beautiful gifts or additions to any home. Lucy’s full body of work can be viewed online at lucypittaway.co.uk or in one of her galleries located across the North East, North West and Yorkshire.   

 *Awarded by the Fine Art Trade Guide since 2018.