To Ralph Bainbridge painting came as effortlessly as breathing. Whatever the medium, be it pastels, oils, acrylics, inks or charcoal Ralph, known to friends and family alike as The Painting Machine was little short of a genius.
A lifelong painter, much of the work of this former Leeds engineer is soon to go on show here at Moortown Baptist Church as between 11am and 3pm on Saturday November the 16th, Ralph’s widow Tricia shares (and hopefully sells) some of more than 200 of his works.
For many years, Ralph who died aged 72 and whose funeral was held here at MBC last January had Parkinson’s Disease, and whilst he’d always painted it was in fact the medication he was taking for this illness which, says Tricia, “turned a hobby into an addiction.”
And that’s no doubt why no matter what the subject – portraits, landscapes, seascapes or merely something quirky that happened to catch his eye, the combination of Ralph’s imagination, that keen eye and above all his delicate touch made everything he approached come alive.
Looking back, the first exhibition he himself staged was eleven years ago, that was in 2013, and it was very much a home grown affair. That’s because one sunny Saturday, and out of the blue he decided to take his easels and a selection of paintings outside and invite passers by in to his front garden to view his work. From that modest start, and later, with the aid of a local school teacher The Painting Machine’s art work is now shown throughout Horsforth each July in churches, schools and community centres.
So, with much of the money raised from the sale being donated to Parkinson’s UK it’s now our turn to show our appreciation of Ralph’s work.
Don’t forget 11am until 3pm, Saturday the 16th of November here at Moortown Baptist Church. Oh and I know there will be refreshments available because my wife and I are part of a team “manning” the kitchen.
There’s a gallery below showing just a very small selection of Ralph’s work. If you would like to view it simply click on any of the images. Oh would you also please note that we will only be able to take payment for pictures in cash and not by machine.
