Banbury art shop celebrates 11 years in town with launch of its own paint and new extra website

The Artery art shop in Parsons Street opened 11 years ago this month. Barry Whitehouse, the owner and manager of the The Artery, has launched his own handmade watercolour paint - 'Barry's Paintbox' - to mark the anniversary. 'Barry's Paintbox' includes a range of 14 colours plus occasional limited edition iridescent colours, such as 'Pumpkin Magic' a semi sparkly orange colour.

After the huge success their online classes during lockdown, which will continue, Barry has also created a new sister site to run along the shop's main website, artstreamclub.com where people can pay and watch recordings of all the classes, to learn new skills.

There are currently around 50 classes on the site, with more being added weekly. Around 400 past lessons recorded from the last 14 months will be available, plus current classes will be added within days of happening.

Barry said: "We hope this new site will encourage more people to take up art and creativity, as it's a great way to relax. l learn new things, but also good for mental health. Our aim has always been to make art accessible and affordable, and this extra website will make it possible to reach even more people."

Their lessons cover drawing, watercolour, acrylics, pastels, gouache, and calligraphy.

To find out more head to the websites for The Artery here: www.artstreamclub.com and https://www.thearteryonline.com/

The Artery found itself with a worldwide audience during the Covid-19 lockdown. In fact its online lessons attracted hundreds to each session during the lockdown. Barry Whitehouse, who is also an art tutor, set out to change his business model slightly due to the lockdown.

You can read more about the success of The Artery's online classes during the pandemic through this web link to a Banbury Guardian story: https://www.banburyguardian.co.uk/news/people/banburys-art-classes-go-global-response-lockdown-2842645