A YOUNG artist whose work was part of a world-first conference dedicated to the life of late pop great Prince is creating a painting for a Wrexham finance’s firm new headquarters.
Alice Tulane, 25, from Connah’s Quay, is producing an abstract piece to adorn the walls of Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management’s new offices inside the town’s Grade II listed former Wrexham Lager brewery building.
The fast expanding company, which was established in 2000 by founding partners Warren Hadlow and Medwyn Edwards, is also offering other local artists the chance to showcase their work on the walls at the state of the art base they have created in the historical building on the edge of Central Retail Park.
Former Connah’s Quay High School and Deeside College student Alice has previously had photography art work on display at the three-day ‘Purple Reign’ conference hosted by Salford University, which paid homage to the life and legacy of the late musician Prince.
But this is the first time she has had a painting commissioned and she has thanked Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management for the exposure they are providing.
Alice, who now lives in Salford, said: “It’s fantastic for me and so nice to build a connection with the business. Hopefully I can make some more in the future off the back of this.
“This is my first painting commission so it’s been really exciting.
“I like to do both art and photography and often mix the two together. I create from each path. I also do a bit of music photography mainly of local and student bands in Manchester.
“Last year I created a photography series for a three-day exhibition and conference based around the legacy of Prince the singer.
“It was a conference supported by the University of Salford and his colleagues and family members flew over for it to do some talks.
“I shot a series of art photography that involved references to some of Prince’s songs.”
Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management were made aware of the work created by Alice, who studied art and design at college before going on to complete a degree in photography at Salford, through her childhood friend Fiona Clarke who is a member of the firm’s support team.
Dominic Richmond, operations director at Hadlow Edwards, says the finance firm is delighted to help showcase the work of a young, upcoming artist and is keen for more to come forward.
He said: “We’re thrilled with the quality of Alice’s art work which will take pride of place in our new state of the art offices.
“We’re committed to supporting the local community and region as a whole in any way we can, so we’re particularly pleased to have been able to help a young artist to showcase their exciting work and gain some exposure.
“We hope our involvement with Alice will encourage other upcoming artists to come forward with their ideas as we are keen to support more, whether it is by way of giving them wall space to showcase their work or commissioning them to create something unique for our offices.”
Alice described her work for Hadlow Edwards and said: “It’s an abstract piece I am working on to celebrate the new office. I’ve used the same colour scheme and lots of different shapes.
“It’s a piece without a narrative so it can look decorative. I’ve steered clear of paintbrushes and used pallet knives to get different finishes.
“I’ve also used a method known as ‘dirty pot’ which is basically mixing different colours to make what you could say is an artistic mess!”
Hadlow Edwards Wealth Management recently moved into the Victorian red-brick former brewery building, built in 1882, after outgrowing its former home on Regent Street, Wrexham.
The firm is looking to recruit more people in the coming months including two new advisers and increase their support team numbers as a result.
In 2016, they opened an office in London’s Mayfair and took over a Shropshire based business. They have further expansion plans in the pipeline.
Hadlow Edwards is a representative of St. James’s Place Wealth Management, one of the UK’s largest wealth management organisations, and they offer advice on many aspects of wealth management, to both individuals and businesses.
Local artists interested in showcasing their work at the Hadlow Edwards office, should call Dominic Richmond on 01978 311611.