FIVE former Bolton art students look poised to dazzle galleries across Lancashire after they joined together to form an art group.

Stan Hodson, Christine Southworth, Malcolm Taylor and Russell Ramsden all attended Bolton College of Art in the early 1960s and went on to become teachers in schools across the borough, while Mr Hodsons son, Michael, attended the college when it moved to Great Moor Street.

The quintet, along with three other members, Sarah Hicks, Clare Dutton and Michael Mulcahy, decided to pool together their artistic talents to form a group called the Northern Lights

The groups first show starts at this year's 13th annual Ribchester Festival of music and Arts, near Blackburn, which runs until Sunday, June 26, with another show at Chipping Craft Centre, Longridge, in September.

Mr Hodson said: "Five of us carry the torch from Bolton College of Art, which was like a beacon in our lives. Symbolically, our group name represents this spirit. Scores of us have spent our whole careers as teachers, designers and artists. We are like a kind of brotherhood with a unique common cause."

Members of Northern Lights have led a successful art career. Mr Hodson has exhibited widely in the North, especially at the former Great House Gallery at Rivington, run by the late Dorothy Almond.

His son, Michael, exhibited with the Sunday Times Singer & Friedlander national travelling exhibition, while Mrs Southworth and Mr Ramsden have been successful in painting nudes and portraits of famous jazz musicians.

Anyone interested in the exhibitions and details of former students and staff should contact Stan on 01772 782889, or email:

bosuntrax@btinternet.com