AN ARTIST whose work is familiar around the area is marking a personal new dawn in closing his chapter at Woodend Mill with a final home exhibition.
For two decades Chris Cyprus has called the Mossley site his second home after being based on the third floor in Mill 1 since 2004 and has captured the changing world that surrounds him.
The ‘Dawn of Summer’ exhibition features around 25 paintings and is deliberately intimate, with the works sharing a similar colour palette.
And Chris sees the exhibition as a reflection of where he is in his own career.
“I think it’s similar to where I am in my career; it’s like a new dawn,” he said. “I can see the light on the other side of it. I just have to go with the flow and adapt to the changes like I’ve always been, looking for new avenues and platforms, so to speak.”
There is also a practical reason for the move, one that puts his old building skills back to use.
“I’m going to build a garden room and have that as a studio, hopefully soon enough,” he added.
“I’ll use my old talents from my building trade to build my own studio in the garden. It will be sad to leave, It’s been my second home for 20 years.
“I’m a big part of the furniture and it’s a big part of me – the whole ethos and the vibe of the whole place.”
Chris’s connection with the mill stretches back much further to his childhood nostalgia.
“I remember as a child I used to walk past here on my way to school every day,” he said.
“But then it was a daunting old mill. I always thought, ‘Oh God, I hope I never have to work in that mill’… and here I am.”
A career in the building trade never foreshadowed a path in the creative arts. In 1998, a back injury following heavy groundwork changed the direction of his life entirely.
“It was the first time I picked up a brush,” Chris recalled. “As I was in recovery, that’s when it just started. I thought, ‘I’m pretty good at this.’”
His early work included watercolours, some of which can still be found in pubs around Saddleworth, including The Roaches Lock Inn in Mossley.
Chris continued working in and out of the building trade while developing his artistic style before taking the studio at Woodend Mill in 2004, with him quipping: “I guess that’s when I became a professional artist.”
Over the years, the mill became much more than simply a place to work.
It became the backdrop to Chris’s artistic career, with the surrounding Saddleworth landscape providing endless inspiration.
“When I first moved in here, I started painting all the local trees on the canal,” he said. “I’ve always been drawn by nature as an inspiration, and you don’t have to look far. It’s everywhere here.”
But the art world has changed considerably during Chris’ time at Woodend.
Brexit had a significant impact on his European trade, with many of his clients across Europe and America disappearing. Rising living costs have also affected his predominantly older clientele, leaving less financial freedom for people to collect and invest in art.
“The cost of living has basically put an end to it,” Chris said.
“But I’ll continue painting. Nothing will stop me. I’m just going to relocate my studio and downsize and then evaluate where the art world will be going.
“I’ve always been quite adaptable.”
And there are already plans for what comes next.
Chris is working on a proposal with Northern Rail, which could see his artwork displayed at railway stations between Manchester and York.
“I am going to be busy for at least 10 years just doing that,” he said. “I’ll always be here, I’ll always be an artist.”
His upcoming projects mean that leaving Woodend is far from the end of Chris’ artistic career.
In December, he will also showcase Edge of the City at Salford Art Gallery, a collection spanning eight years of capturing different viewpoints around Manchester.
For now, however, his attention is on The Dawn of Summer.
“This is the last opportunity that you’re going to get to come and have a visit and have a look at the gallery and the studio.”
The Dawn of Summer opens at Woodend Mill on October 10 and runs for two weeks until October 24, Thursday to Saturday from 10am until 5pm.