Biographical Details:
Born in Sweden
Studied Foundation Studies at the Royal Berkshire College of Art
B.A (Hons) Fine Art/ Painting at Kingston University 1982-5
Artist's Statement:
When I was seven & living in Spain, I temporarily lost my hearing. It took several months for my hearing to return, during which time I found great solace in being creative. As well as painting and drawing, I was encouraged at school to make puppets. Being creative became a form of communication & it was no surprise to my parents that after A levels, I enrolled at the Royal Berkshire College of Art and Design and subsequently Kingston University.
My work then and for many years after was representational & figurative, but the lure of the abstract grew ever stronger as the new millennium approached. A trip to Morocco with friends in December 2002 proved a real turning point: the bright sunshine and vivid colours of North Africa inspired me to embrace a much more vivid palette in my work & as such marked a new departure.
My work post-2002 therefore features a much brighter and wider palette than was the case in previous years, although there were some emotionally dark days in the decade to 2010 when a more sombre palette prevailed. The decade to 2020 was marked by an ever deeper exploration of the abstract as I travelled throughout Europe and the UK. Of particular note were trips to Portugal, Greece, Scotland & Cornwall. Sometimes one doesn't need to go abroad to experience a different culture! When I am not away from home, the Oxfordshire light & the view from my studio in the Vale of the White Horse are a constant inspiration.
Although I have worked with oil all my artistic life, I find it isn't easy to use without making a mess (oil painting, especially while listening to music, is something I have always really enjoyed. I have been known to literally throw myself at large canvases...), so there were a few years after graduation when I was restricted to working in water colour, pastels and charcoal before I had access to my own studio space, after which I could make as much mess as I liked.
I have always loved the immediacy of working with pure pigment and soft pastels in particular: layering, smudging, moving. There's a physicality to working with any medium, but because pastels can be applied directly to paper without the intermediary of a brush, gesture becomes colour, easel becomes floor. Some of my best work has literally been done lying down, my eyes tracking the pastel's journey as it leaves its trail across a sheet of 400gsm A2...
I suspect the way I see the world was greatly affected by not being able to hear anything when I was small. Friends sometimes have to see my work from a distance to see what I can see from only a few inches away.
Society Memberships:
The Pastel Society - President
Other Society Memberships:
Chelsea Art Society
Scholarships, Awards, Prizes
Unison Pastel Materials Award – Pastel Centenary Exhibition 2000
Unison Pastel Materials Award – Pastel Centenary Exhibition 2002
The Arts Club Award (Dover Street, London) - Pastel Centenary Exhibition 2004
The Debra Manifold Memorial Award, Linda Blackstone Gallery Award – Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2005
Ages Reeve Memorial Award for a painting of London – Chelsea Art Society 2005
The Debra Manifold Memorial Award, Linda Blackstone Gallery Award – Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2008
The Arts Club Award - Pastel Society 2010
The Henri Roche Pastel Award - Pastel Society
2012 Derwent Award - Pastel Society 2014
Exhibitions:
Dulwich Picture Gallery (Group June’85)
Art for Youth at the Mall Galleries
Kensington & Chelsea Artist’s Exhibition at Leighton House (Selected Group 1992,1999)
Adam & Company/ Spectator Art Prize, Edinburgh (Selected 1992)
Diorama Gallery ‘XMIX’ (Group 1998)
Bartley Drey Gallery, London (Solo 1999 & Group 1999,2000)
Pastel Society Centenary Exhibition, Mall Galleries (Selected Group 2000)
Chelsea Art Society (Selected Group (2000-07)
The Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries (Selected Group 2000)
Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries (Selected Group 1998-2015)
Carlyle Gallery, London (Selected Group 2002-3)
The Gallery, Mayfair, London 2002
Pond Galleries, London Selected Group 2002-3)
ART LONDON (Beverley Knowles Fine Art) 2004 The Arts Club, Dover Street, London 2004
The Bedale Gallery, London (Beverley Knowles) 2005 Burlington
Fine Art, Piccadilly, London (Selected Group 2005)
Galerie Aaders, La Garde Freinet, France (Solo 2005)
Manor House Gallery, Chipping Norton, 2005
Hampshire Art Fair 2005-16
Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate (Selected Group 2006 & 2009)
Beverley Knowles Fine Art (Selected Group 2006)
The Salt House Gallery, St Ives 2006
St David’s Hall, Cardiff 2006
Piers Feetham Gallery, London 2007
Alresford Gallery 2007
Southampton City Art Gallery (Selected Group 2007)
Art London (Frost and Reed Gallery) 2008
Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition) 2009
Alresford Gallery 2010
Gallery LeFort 2010,2011
Artwave west, Dorest 2010-2016
Martin’s Gallery, Cheltenham 2011
Discerning Eye, London 2013
Royal West of England Academy Annual Exhibition, 2014, 2015, 2016
Bath Contemporary 2015-2016
ChART - Chatsworth Horse Trials 2016
