Artist Hannah Ferguson is having a major impact on the arts scene in the Forest of Dean.

Since acquiring The Secret Gallery in Newent Hannah has been instrumental in launching the now annual Newent Art Competition, which received 67 entries this year. The professional artist, whose studio is also based in the Newent art gallery, says picking a winner for this year’s competition was no easy task. She said: “I was one of the judges who had to decide on the winning entry. We had 67 entries to pick a winner from, narrowing them down was an extremely difficult task.

“The day itself was fantastic, the sun was shining and we had poetry readings and arts and crafts workshops for children. The winning entry for the competition came from Mary Deaville who created a wonderful sculpture. Mary won the £250 cash prize as well as a two-page feature article in Creates magazine, a major art publication. The competition is still in its infancy, we’re hoping that next year’s event will prove as popular. It’s great to see the enthusiasm the people of the Forest of Dean have for art.”

Hannah moved into The Secret Gallery when she decided to dedicate her career to art. She continued: “I’ve been painting all my life but started my career as a full-time artist five years ago. I trained at Cumbria College of Art and Design. I got a lot of inspiration from the beautiful surroundings. The Lake District was on my doorstep which was quite handy for my studies! I studied photography and went straight into working as a photographer, but I didn’t enjoy that too much.

“Things took off when I moved back to England four years ago. I was curating exhibitions and that’s when the opportunity to acquire the gallery in Newent came about.”

Hannah works with acrylic paint and she has a rather unique style of applying the paint to the canvas. She explained: “I do have quite an individual style of working, I call it my crazy ball. I fill a ball with paint that’s got a small hole in the bottom. The ball is attached to a piece of string and I work using continuous black lines on the canvas which is on the floor. I fill in the holes using acrylic paint.

“I’ve learned a huge amount since going full-time. I’ve done some big exhibitions and solo shows, so I’ve acquired plenty of publicity and promotion skills along the way. Like every artist my work is always developing, I’m always up for trying new methods and techniques out.”

Hannah has enjoyed plenty of success since becoming a professional artist and says seeing the reaction to her work is one of the best parts of her job. She said: “It’s incredibly satisfying when I hear from clients who have purchased paintings from me who tell me my work makes them smile, as an artist I can’t think of higher praise. My artwork is fun, it’s so nice to hear that other people have enjoyed it. I’m still in the infancy of my career but I’m very ambitious. When I get to the end of every project I’m already thinking about the next task in hand.”

Hannah’s gallery will be hosting another event later this month, as she welcomes a host of artistic and creative talent. She added: “On the day of the Newent Onion Fayre, (Saturday 8th September), I’m organising an arts and crafts fair in the courtyard outside of the gallery. We’ll have loads of different stalls with people selling a variety of goods, it will be a great day. Looking ahead to the future, I want to organise events like this regularly. There’s a real appetite for art here in the Forest of Dean and I want to be a part of that.”