TOM'S PROMISE; Scribbled note leads to first solo show: Art.

Byline: JULIE CHAMBERLAIN

A PROMISE written on a scrap of paper during a night out has resulted in Coventry-born artist Tom Yeomans having his first solo exhibition.

The graduate of the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art in London worked part-time for four years at HM Graphics and The White Room Gallery in Regent Street in Leamington.

Tom attended Castle Sixth Form in Kenilworth where a couple of teachers encouraged him to pursue art seriously.

He did Foundation Studies at Warwickshire College before winning his place at the Slade.

On a night out to celebrate his acceptance, Jane Wildman, now running the White Room's sister gallery in Bath, persuaded Tom to sign a piece of paper to say she could curate his first show after his degree.

Tom graduated with a First this year and his first solo exhibition is for the Leamington White Room entitled The Good, The Bad And The Ugly - the piece of signed paper is framed on the wall.

The acrylic on canvas paintings involve one still from a western, one image from a significant moment in the Cold War and one as a cut-out through a corporate logo.

There's the one remaining building left standing in the central Hiroshima park after the bomb was dropped on Japan, a soldier leaping for freedom over barbed wire in Berlin and the nuclear bomb mushroom cloud.

Images of idealised American films entwine with moments of terror from history and symbols of big money. They're powerful images and show thought as well as painting talent.

It's no surprise Tom's work has also been picked for Charles Saachi's New Sensations show, making him one to watch.

Tom, aged 23, is thankful of the support of John and Heather Gilks, who run the White Room.

He says: "You need sympathetic people who are open minded like John and Heather. Nobody else from my year has had the opportunity for a solo exhibition so soon after graduating."

n FOUR Rugby area artists are exhibiting at the Lewis Gallery at Rugby School.

Painter Jane Atkins has been a professional artist and teacher for nine years and has been artist in residence for school and community projects. Her recent influences include water and rockpools.

Illustrator Keith Morgan has been a professional artist since 1999 and has also been artist in residence for local authorities. Also exhibiting are ceramics artist Peter Cosentino and glass artist Ruth Lyne.

n CORLEY artist Jo Gane, now based in Coventry, will be taking photographs in Birmingham's The Old Science Museum in Newhall Street on Thursday 12 years after the museum closed. She can be watched at work and her photographs will be put on show on November 14 from 2pm to 6pm only. It is the latest event organised by TROVE, an arts organisation which specialises in extremely short-lived shows in unusual venues.

n INTERNATIONAL artist Robert Casselton Clark has That Faraway Look at the Lanchester Gallery at Coventry University's Graham Sutherland Building, until November 19. It features an installation of more than 100 photo-artworks.

n KIRSTY E SMITH'S exhibition Close Encounters Of A Frillip Moolog Kind transfers from London's Notting Hill to Solihull Art Gallery until November 14. It includes sculptures of characters made from domestic objects and parts from salvage yards and vintage shops.

CAPTION(S):

FIRST SHOW... Tom Yeomans (centre) with the owners of the White Room gallery at the opening of his show in Leamington.