My mum was my earliest artistic inspiration. She was taught in the sixties at Corsham College by Howard Hodgkin, and Rosemary and Cliff ord Ellis. When I was growing up, our house was full of paintings and antiques, and we often spent weekends going to antique fairs or flea markets. This is where I get my love of collecting from. I have one sister and one brother, and we are all artists in our own way. My sister is an illustrator, and my brother is a furniture designer.
My early years were spent in Gloucestershire until the age of seven. Around the age of eight, I started drawing the family cats (there were nine!). I used to carry a sketchbook with me at all times and drew the things around me. Art is the only thing I ever wanted to do, apart from when I was six when I wanted to be a nurse; I am still interested in all things medical.
We moved to Nottinghamshire later where I lived until I went to University. I have always lived in the countryside; even the University I chose was set in the parkland. Nature is a big influence on my work; I like to surround myself with flowers, plants and animals.
I now live and work in the picturesque Yorkshire town of Holmfirth, in West Yorkshire. I am really lucky to be in such a beautiful part of the country. The studio looks out towards the Pennines, and I can see sheep and cows. My love of the countryside, whether that be a simple back garden, rolling fields, beaches, mountains, or a stately home is unsurpassed.
Flowers and wildlife are ESSENTIAL to one’s well-being.
I think as I get older, I realise that so much of me as an artist comes from my mum, though she allowed me to discover this myself and follow my own path. I have been drawing and painting since I can remember, and my love of pottery and ceramics began at school. I actually wanted to be a potter and began my course at Uni with that in mind, but after a few months, I switched to fine art. I think this now comes through in the subject matter of my paintings; I paint vessels now instead of making them.
I find my ideas and inspiration from all over: books, magazines, vintage furniture and houses, gardens, pottery, interiors and of course, flowers. Much of my creative inspiration also comes from my vast collection of ceramics, which are mainly vintage or antique and are often childhood pieces. Ceramics are featured in every painting, along with flowers and the landscapes of Scotland and Cornwall. I also enjoy drawing landscape art on holidays, so sometimes those landscapes appear in the distance in my paintings.
I now paint every day. Even if I am on holiday, I am sketching flowers and views, or looking for new plants or pieces of pottery to use in a painting.
I’ve been painting cups and other ceramics since college in 1991, and a few years ago, I started to introduce book covers into some paintings, as I was inspired by the beautiful patterns of vintage books —especially King Penguin and Picture Puffin children’s books. It started when I discovered some music books with amazing covers in a local charity shop. I researched the designer (Stephen Russ) and found out coincidentally that he taught my mum at college in the sixties.
I also occasionally include quirky vintage items in my paintings, such as lead animals or broken pieces of pottery. The ceramics that I put in my paintings—cups, jugs and bowls etc.—are mostly taken from examples that I own or from reference photographs. Occasionally though, I combine elements, sometimes sourced from books, textiles or other ceramics, to create a unique object which exists only in my paintings.
I paint on MDF panels, and I begin by applying three coats of Gesso. I refer to my sketchbooks for ideas and then, draw out the image in pencil. I use acrylic paint which I build up in layers, and I scratch lines around certain areas of the painting with a sharp blade. I then rub paint into these marks. I use sandpaper to rub areas and rags to take colour away. I like the fact that there is a random element to the result even when I try to control
“I like painting flowers— I have tried to paint many things in many different ways, but my paint brush always gives a tremor of pleasure when I let it paint a flower.” — Winifred Nicholson
I have a dedicated studio, which is in the garden and in winter, it gets pretty cold, so I light my wood burning stove. The studio has old, vintage furniture filled with junk shop finds and some of my pottery collection. There are also wooden horses, dried flowers, plates, books, feathers, birds’ eggs and potted plants. The walls are lined with cupboards full of vintage treasures and collected nature finds: shells, feathers, bird nests, broken pottery and pebbles.
I have an amazing view from the studio out across hills, so I often sit and look out at the changing light. I can only work when I am on my own, so I have to put aside a large chunk of time when I won’t be disturbed. I sometimes like to listen to audio books, but more often than not, I work in silence.
Being a painter gives me the freedom to be in control of my own time, and it is great to be able to take a spontaneous trip to a new town or exhibition or go out drawing when I feel like it, though as my work becomes more saleable, I am finding my spare time is shrinking rapidly as I juggle commissions and prepare new paintings for upcoming exhibitions. I am proud though of forging a successful career and running a busy household with three children, and all of the demands that are involved with that.
I paint to preserve the things that I believe to be beautiful, especially flowers which are transient and short lived. By painting them, I get to enjoy them all year round.
My mum was my earliest artistic inspiration. She was taught in the sixties at Corsham College by Howard Hodgkin, and Rosemary and Cliff ord Ellis. When I was growing up, our house was full of paintings and antiques, and we often spent weekends going to antique fairs or flea markets. This is where I get my love of collecting from. I have one sister and one brother, and we are all artists in our own way. My sister is an illustrator, and my brother is a furniture designer.
My early years were spent in Gloucestershire until the age of seven. Around the age of eight, I started drawing the family cats (there were nine!). I used to carry a sketchbook with me at all times and drew the things around me. Art is the only thing I ever wanted to do, apart from when I was six when I wanted to be a nurse; I am still interested in all things medical.
We moved to Nottinghamshire later where I lived until I went to University. I have always lived in the countryside; even the University I chose was set in the parkland. Nature is a big influence on my work; I like to surround myself with flowers, plants and animals.
I now live and work in the picturesque Yorkshire town of Holmfirth, in West Yorkshire. I am really lucky to be in such a beautiful part of the country. The studio looks out towards the Pennines, and I can see sheep and cows. My love of the countryside, whether that be a simple back garden, rolling fields, beaches, mountains, or a stately home is unsurpassed.
Flowers and wildlife are ESSENTIAL to one’s well-being.
I think as I get older, I realise that so much of me as an artist comes from my mum, though she allowed me to discover this myself and follow my own path. I have been drawing and painting since I can remember, and my love of pottery and ceramics began at school. I actually wanted to be a potter and began my course at Uni with that in mind, but after a few months, I switched to fine art. I think this now comes through in the subject matter of my paintings; I paint vessels now instead of making them.
I find my ideas and inspiration from all over: books, magazines, vintage furniture and houses, gardens, pottery, interiors and of course, flowers. Much of my creative inspiration also comes from my vast collection of ceramics, which are mainly vintage or antique and are often childhood pieces. Ceramics are featured in every painting, along with flowers and the landscapes of Scotland and Cornwall. I also enjoy drawing landscape art on holidays, so sometimes those landscapes appear in the distance in my paintings.
I now paint every day. Even if I am on holiday, I am sketching flowers and views, or looking for new plants or pieces of pottery to use in a painting.
I’ve been painting cups and other ceramics since college in 1991, and a few years ago, I started to introduce book covers into some paintings, as I was inspired by the beautiful patterns of vintage books —especially King Penguin and Picture Puffin children’s books. It started when I discovered some music books with amazing covers in a local charity shop. I researched the designer (Stephen Russ) and found out coincidentally that he taught my mum at college in the sixties.
I also occasionally include quirky vintage items in my paintings, such as lead animals or broken pieces of pottery. The ceramics that I put in my paintings—cups, jugs and bowls etc.—are mostly taken from examples that I own or from reference photographs. Occasionally though, I combine elements, sometimes sourced from books, textiles or other ceramics, to create a unique object which exists only in my paintings.
I paint on MDF panels, and I begin by applying three coats of Gesso. I refer to my sketchbooks for ideas and then, draw out the image in pencil. I use acrylic paint which I build up in layers, and I scratch lines around certain areas of the painting with a sharp blade. I then rub paint into these marks. I use sandpaper to rub areas and rags to take colour away. I like the fact that there is a random element to the result even when I try to control
“I like painting flowers— I have tried to paint many things in many different ways, but my paint brush always gives a tremor of pleasure when I let it paint a flower.” — Winifred Nicholson
I have a dedicated studio, which is in the garden and in winter, it gets pretty cold, so I light my wood burning stove. The studio has old, vintage furniture filled with junk shop finds and some of my pottery collection. There are also wooden horses, dried flowers, plates, books, feathers, birds’ eggs and potted plants. The walls are lined with cupboards full of vintage treasures and collected nature finds: shells, feathers, bird nests, broken pottery and pebbles.
I have an amazing view from the studio out across hills, so I often sit and look out at the changing light. I can only work when I am on my own, so I have to put aside a large chunk of time when I won’t be disturbed. I sometimes like to listen to audio books, but more often than not, I work in silence.
Being a painter gives me the freedom to be in control of my own time, and it is great to be able to take a spontaneous trip to a new town or exhibition or go out drawing when I feel like it, though as my work becomes more saleable, I am finding my spare time is shrinking rapidly as I juggle commissions and prepare new paintings for upcoming exhibitions. I am proud though of forging a successful career and running a busy household with three children, and all of the demands that are involved with that.
I paint to preserve the things that I believe to be beautiful, especially flowers which are transient and short lived. By painting them, I get to enjoy them all year round.
