Sharrow Today: Artist Of The Month

12 Sharrow Today
Artist of the month:
Trevor Tomlin
April - May 2012
“Getting everybody making stuff”
By Steve Fryer
“I’ve been adopted by Sharrow.”
Trevor told me as we chatted over
coffee in the Harland Cafe on John
Street.
Trevor is very interested in politi-
cal activism – “the kind of positive,
grass roots activism that celebrates
diversity and encourages a fairer,
more sustainable world for every-
one” – and he’s been involved for a
long time now in initiatives inspired
It was only a day or two after the
Sharrow Lantern Carnival which
Trevor had helped to organize – he
ran lantern-making workshops at a
number of different venues in the
area – something he’s done for
several years now. He’s also been
heavily involved in the running of the
Sharrow Festival in recent years – this
year he’s responsible for organizing
the community stage at the festival.
Trevor doesn’t live in Sharrow but
he’s been drawn to the area be-
cause, in his words “it’s a hotbed of
artistic creativity - one of the main
anti-racism, disability awareness,
and anti-poverty campaigns.
Feather print
Event photo - Lantern workshop
to develop them.
He initially worked in nursing & so-
cial work before joining the NHS
Management Training Scheme and
taking a job as a senior manager.
He eventually realised that this didn’t
“All my art is about communica-
tion” he says. The photos I take
communicate something about
me, and are a comment on who I
am. “The aim of my group-work is
to get everyone involved – to help
2002 to try and make a living as an
artist.
He is a very versatile artist although
his main focus is on photography. “I
Digital manipulation of several photos of Ecclesall Woods
prints in the darkroom when I was
a student at Lancaster University”
he said. Much later, after moving to
“I recently worked as an education
techniques – these are often the
only barriers to people’s creativity.
Two thirds of the time I’m a facilita-
tor” he says, rather than an artist in
the conventional sense. Although
creative when preparing for his
workshops.
refresher course at Site Gallery and
However, it’s hard to make money
from photography so he has ven-
-
ramics, illustration, teaching, and
producing campaign materials
- combining his youth & community
work, political activism and art mak-
ing with varying degrees of success.
He explained that his interest in
political activism has made his art
less individualistic and more col-
laborative with other people, more
community focused. To him the
three most important aspects of
his art are:- that it has a message;
that it looks good; and that it brings
people together. He hopes that his
work with community groups will
Silver Gelatin Portraits
Wildlife Trust where I got to do a lot
of muddy, wet artwork outside with
kids in parks and school grounds”
– including mud painting in Rivelin
“These days, I work as a freelance
artist full-time” he says “and, start-
ing over the next few months, he’s
planning to run a series of art work-
shops for adults at the Old Junior
School in Sharrow, as well as at
Bank St, and Burngreave Chapel.
The activities will include photog-
raphy, print making (eg lino cuts),
making sculpture from recycled
materials, and also natural materials
art – probably at Ecclesall Woods.
Trevor’s work has been exhibited
many times, including last year at
the Sharrow Festival, with an exhibi-
tion called “Mayday” planned soon
at the Black Rose Centre in Burn-
greave.
He is also available to photograph
weddings, portraits, and to record
peoples’ events.
colours of mud to use in the river.
“I also got heavily into making sculp-
tures from found objects and junk,
and at various times I’ve worked for
arts in health organisations like the
For further information about Trevor,
including prices etc., visit
well as a few art organisations like
Access Space and Creative Action
www.trevortomlincommunityart.
tumblr.com/
Event Photo - Des at the Sharrow Festival 2011