Being brought up on the Somerset Levels proved exciting and inspiring! It was the ever-changing appearance of the landscape that inspired my early attempts at painting. If the land wasn’t flooded it was flat and broken only by the dyke edges which supported the beautiful willows that were pollarded as soon as the floods receded. It was here that my interest in painting our ever-changing landscapes became my challenge. Over the years I have strived to go beyond the obvious beauty of the vista and to take the onlooker into a world of complex textures and allow them to feel the wind, rain and sun. I want them to experience the sunrise, sunset and a storm on the moors. For me it is not enough to paint just what I see, I need to paint what I experience and feel when I look at a landscape.
Method of Working:
I have experimented with most media to find one that best suits my need to recreate the texture of natural landscapes and pastel certainly helps me achieve this. Pastel is a very tactile medium and I love to get physically involved with my work, a combination of smudging and mark making is my usual approach to recreating a landscape. I use MDF board as a support which I prepare with a coat of Gesso, followed by an acrylic underpainting and topped with a coat of Golden Pastel Ground. I work quickly and like to finish a piece of work in one session as, for me it’s a story that can’t be interrupted, as a consequence I frequently work quite late into the night! Although I enjoy sourcing subjects and sketching outdoors, I prefer to create the final work in my Hampshire studio where I can work without interruption or distraction.
Biographical Details:
DOB: 1945
YEOVIL SCHOOL OF ART 1960 – 1963
BATH ACADEMY OF ART 1963 – 1966
Honorary B.Ed 1923
After gaining a CERTIFICATE of ART EDUCATION I spent my career years until retirement teaching Art in various schools, colleges and further education establishments in the UK, USA and the Middle East. Whilst living in Saudi Arabia, as well as teaching in a Saudi ladies college, I featured in a series of TV and radio programs about my life and painting as well as working with the Dept. of Health and Education to help promote interest in the Visual Arts. Since retiring I have been painting, teaching, demonstrating and holding workshops in both Pastel and Watercolour.
Exhibitions:
I submit work to and have been selected for the following exhibitions:
PASTEL SOCIETY
SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS
APPART, Godalming.
PRESENT PICTURES, Whitchurch.
HAMPSHIRE OPEN STUDIOS: I open my studio annually.
I belong to a group of artists: ART IMPACT, with whom I regularly exhibit, our latest having been in Romsey at the Hillier Garden. January 2024
Publications:
ARTISTS and ILLUSTRATORS: COVER ARTIST.
Article: “Spotlight artist of the month”
THE ARTIST:
Article: “ Using an acrylic underpainting for successful pastel landscapes”
Step by step demonstration.
