A Special Day - In memory of Norma Fryer 1937 - 2024

Norma Fryer
Whitstable Artist

My Mum, Norma passed away at the beginning of this month.

I’m posting this blog on what would have been my Mum’s 87th birthday, so this is a celebration of her life.

Behind the artist Norma was also my beloved Mum, a nan to Sophie & Josh, a daughter to Norman & Marie, a sister to Roger, an aunt to Leigh and Vikki, a mother-in-law to Mark, a sister-in-law to Jean, a cousin to Sylvia, Pam, Anne and Peter and a friend to many. She was fiercely independent, strong, and stubborn to the end. Loved cats and the colour blue. Loved collecting things – everything had a memory or a use, so was not to be thrown away!

My Mum was a very well-known artist in Whitstable for around 60 years, before she moved to Brighton to be near me 15 years ago. She moved to Whitstable as a child and attended Canterbury Art College before moving to London to start her career as a Graphic designer, painter and potter. Norma, returned to Whitstable in the mid-70’s, where her life an artist really took off!

Whitstable, especially the sea, harbour and beach huts were a constant inspiration for her work; Whitstable held a place deep in her heart.

Mum opened many Oyster festivals over the years and was instrumental in starting the Fish-slab gallery, being their first volunteer, a gallery that is still thriving now, with new passion and talent. Her artwork is found on all the tourist information boards around the town and adorn many local homes – a wonderful legacy.

I love this memory shared with me by a friend – “I always think of her buzzing around Whitstable in and out of galleries in a fisherman's smock, jumping in and out of the red mini!”

So, we have decided, as a family, that later in the year we will return to Whitstable to scatter Mum’s ashes.

I have created a fundraiser to raise donations for SOS Whitstable in memory of my Mum.

SOS Whitstable are a group of ten sea-swimmers from the Kent coast who fight against sewage pollution in the south-east of England and beyond. In August 2021, they formed after a public meeting where Southern Water provided insufficient information or solutions regarding sewage pollution's impact on swimmers' health, biodiversity, and the local economy, specifically the Oyster and fisheries industry that are synonymous with Whitstable.

Starting with a local focus, SoS Whitstable gained national recognition and press coverage by publishing two petitions with 350,000+ signatures, holding three protests that drew thousands, and persistently pressuring the water industry, regulatory bodies, and politicians to clean our waters and stop sewage pollution.

In early February, they unveiled an underwater sculpture by Jason Decaires Taylor, installed on the beach outside the iconic Old Neptune pub, a subject of many of Norma’s artworks.

We feel Norma, with her great love of Whitstable, nature and her love of the underdog and fairness would have been fully behind this wonderful campaign.