‘Faces of Broadstairs’ captured on canvas by town artist Lana Arkhi

More than 20 well-known characters in Broadstairs have been captured on canvas by town artist Lana Arkhi.

The “Faces of Broadstairs” exhibition opened on February 16 at the Royal Albion Hotel and will remain on display until 15th May.

Among those immortalised in the portraits are East Thanet MP Polly Billington; recently retired postman Ralph Lowdon; Espedito Tammaro from Posillipo restaurant; Rosie Sandwell from Broadstairs gallery; Georgina Rigg from Thanet Cat Club; Chris Matthewman, the Baptist Church Team minister; Will Leeves from The Magnet pub; Lulla and Tony Michael of Three Graces gift shop owners and Mike Garner, town mayor and councillor.

Lana spent four months creating the works, mostly working from photographs, and she hopes to gain Arts Council funding to expand the project and create 100 portraits of Thanet people.

She said: “Over the past four months, I’ve poured my heart into painting 20 portraits of people from Broadstairs. My big project, “The Eyes That Speak Volumes,” initially focused on famous musicians and actors and was a huge success, inspired me to take on a more challenging venture—capturing the essence of ordinary people and called that “Faces of Broadstairs”.

“Unlike famous faces that are easily recognisable, these portraits required meticulous sketching, colour selection, and stylistic decisions.”

The exhibition opening attended by some 70 visitors, many of whom commented on the striking likenesses captured in each portrait. More than half of the portraits were sold on the day.

Mayor of Broadstairs & St. Peter’s, Councillor Mike Garner said: “I was delighted to be asked to attend the opening of Lana’s Faces of Broadstairs exhibition and then both surprised and honoured to see that my face was one of them.

“Many of the other subjects I spoke to agreed with me that Lana has done a brilliant job of capturing our likeness in, I think, such a vibrant way. I’ve long been a fan of her work and I hope lots of people are able to visit the exhibition.”

Lana added: “As I had kept my work under wraps, I must admit there was a bit of nervousness on my part about whether visitors would appreciate the portraits. However, seeing the radiant smiles and hearing a lot of kind words truly made all the effort worthwhile. ”

Martina Kradlakova, manager at the Albion Hotel. said: “It is an absolute pleasure to host Lana’s exhibition. We are pleased with the amount of people coming to visit. The colourful portraits attract a lot of attention and we hear a lot of positive comments.”

Lana, who was born in Volgograd – formerly known as Stalingrad – graduated from Vladimir Art College in 1987, where she specialised in painting large murals in various cities across the former USSR, She then moved to Moscow to expand her creativity.

In 1989, during Perestroika (the major reformation of Russia since the revolution), she started working and concentrating on ceramic art, painting and producing traditional Russian porcelain called “Gzhel”.

During that period in 1991, she also graduated from the Moscow University of Lenin, where she had been studying both arts and crafts.

During 1994 to 2000 she worked in the studio of Lyudmila Azarova, a  renowned Russian ceramic artist and sculptor. That led to opening her own porcelain studio in 2000, where she created her first big porcelain collection, called “The City”.

In 2012 she moved to England and lives in Broadstairs. In 2015 Lana opened Kent Talents Art Studio & Gallery in the town.

Many of her works have been sold to private collections across the world, including the UK, Russia, Australia, the USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Israel, France, Germany, Austria and Ireland.

Lana is also a member of The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers.