Lidia Ranns Art

I'm a Lancaster based artist in the NW of England, and following my passion for creating art. I studied graphic design at Blackburn College and graduated in 2005, specialising in illustration and brand ID. I worked on a freelance basis and this fit in nicely too when my children came along.

Being a busy mum of two in a diverse household has been my number one job for many years since I graduated, and raising our family took priority. However, now they're that bit older, and life paths swap and change, it was always drawing and painting that were my biggest passion, and it was what I was destined to do. I needed to follow that passion and I have established myself as a very versatile artist and I'm loving it. I do still get very excited by a good logo though!

myI have spent nearly 25 years as a graphic designer crafting my skills to offer a very unique art style combining everything I love about art and indeed design into my work.

I love to work with bright, bold, and contrasting colours to make art but will always approach a piece with whatever medium best suits the style and feel, whether that's with digital or traditional mediums. My background as an illustrator and designer enables me to change styles about and adapt to any brief.

I love to paint in any medium. I really love working with oils, but due to limited studio space (a corner of my dining room) and the slow drying time of oils, I'm exploring the many options acrylic paints have to offer and how different acrylic mediums can emulate that lovely feel of oil paints. I really love the organic way a painting evolves and you will often find me painting with my fingers too. A piece of art really does become a part of you when you create it.

My love for nostalgia and bold graphic styles work well together in my current series of bygone art prints. Combining everything I love about Art Deco, classic cars, lidos, old travel posters, vintage ephemera, flat colour art and a little bit of humour, my favourite places both locally and further afield have been given a modern twist and have now become part of a popular growing series of giclée prints. Many of which are limited edition. I'm very fortunate to live close to Morecambe Bay, Morecambe itself boasts one of the best views for a sunset and of course the magnificent Art Deco Midland Hotel which continues to inspire much of my art.

When I create any style of art on a computer I still prefer to use a mouse as my drawing tool after all these years. This is a technique I've just grown into over time, and the way I prefer to draw vector illustrations and create digital collage work.

My influences in art are varied and come from anywhere and everywhere from the beautiful renaissance figures by the Italian masters, to the radical art and design changes brought about in the 21st century to even The Beano! My favourite artists include Tamara de Lempicka, Edward Hopper, David Hockney, John Piper, Peter Blake, Sara Fanelli and childrens author/illustrator Lauren Child - it's still ok to buy kids books when you're an adult, right?