Artists Statement:
I love the directness and accessibility of pastels and they are fast becoming my main medium. Painting anything with a pulse - mainly people, but also animals, and birds - has been my passion from early childhood. As I now live in rural Norfolk, I have to get up early to catch the available outside humans, mostly in the form of fishermen. For me, it is looking at people in their surroundings, rather than beginning with the “scene” and afterwards judiciously putting in the odd person. I’m with Hockney when he says he just loves looking. For me, a good touch of bright plastic oillies, brightens what can often be grey, dull UK light, into something more Matisse like and dancey.
The enforced isolation in 2019 gave me the chance to explore my use of pastels in a way I hadn’t done before. Drawing my grown children and husband at home, became and remains, a joy. I am delighted to have discovered how much their use informs my use of other mediums and how much fun they are to use out and about.
Why I Wanted to Join the Pastel Society:
As a gregarious and kind painter who loves interacting with all people, I enjoy being part of a group, and helping where needed.
From 2000 to 2022 I was president of The Institute of East Anglian Artists. I considered that one of my main tasks was to bring in new people, new ideas and to welcome and facilitate people and introduce diversity to take the group onwards. That and organising and mounting successful shows.
Currently overlooked in the art world, pastels are such an exciting medium. They are a direct way into colour and painting that makes them accessible to everyone in a way that other mediums aren’t
Biographical Details:
Born in London to New Zealand parents, I was prohibited from doing art at school by my mother. After a BSc Degree in Social Sciences (economics, statistics etc), I trained as a reporter and in 1980 went to live and work in New Zealand. I worked there first for the Labour Department running a student holiday scheme, then wrote and photographed the Bay of Plenty Farmer and lastly worked news for Radio 1XX.
In 1982 a mistake by a driver physically mashed me - she skidded in rain and hit my drivers door. This prompted a timely re-assessment of my career trajectory. I decided that journalism, while exciting, was bad longterm for the soul. Concentrating on what I enjoyed, I started a knitting business on my return to the UK. After my own designed knitwear was taken on by selected shops in Saville Row, I decided that I needed to hone my design skills.
In the interview at Gt Yarmouth College of Art and Design I changed my application from Fashion to Fine Art Foundation as drawing my future husband’s hand for the portfolio (while temping in his office) re-ignited my joy in drawing.
A break for marriage, house renovation and children pushed my painting re-start on to 2004. Since then on-going self directed learning in workshops has taken me round the country and Europe.
Method of Working:
Depending on the weather, I take oils, or watercolours, pencils and pastels out to record things that catch my eye e.g. a seagull getting in to my painting bag after food! Quick sketches of the ever changing water or light on reeds, together with the fast moving “subjects” vividly bring back the scenes once in my studio, better than any photo. Light, colour and movement grip me and the challenge is how to usefully see and get down enough of the moment.
The practical difficulties of using people/cows/birds as the focus, is that most outdoor workers are economical with their movements. And yet they manage to hustle on quickly and disappear from view! As someone who loves the extravagant shaping and composition in early altarpieces of towering bodies, and the dramatic gestures and storytelling in classic history pieces, this is something I have recently been tangling with. Dashy marks help with the feel of my pictures.
I have found that by paying real attention to actual shape, subtle gesture and the spaces between (i.e. observation and drawing) I can get drama. Also, sitting, kneeling and lying changes the viewpoint. Like Picasso, who was said to ‘overlearn’ his subjects, I am beginning to be able to later rotate a stance to get more interesting shapes.
Pastels give the most scope to recreate the feel of the day, especially the luminous light and colours of the coast and fishermen’s wonderfully bright overalls
Society Memberships:
The Pastel Society
Member of Institute of East Anglian Artists (IEA) since 2015.
President of IEA 2020-2022.
Member of Norfolk and Norwich Art Circle since 1990.
Exhibitions:
• 2023 Pink Foot Gallery, Cley, solo show with permanent on-line and continuous gallery presence.
• 2022 - 2024 Selected for the Pastel Society UK Open Show, Mall Galleries. • 2022 NEAC - fisherman, oils.
• 2011 - 2017 ROI annually one or two pictures. Pigs and fishermen.
• 2017 - 2020 RI with watercolours and acrylics, fishermen.
• 2015 - 2022 Annually in IEA Open shows and in all the member shows.
• 2012 NEAC, Mall Gallery with fisherman drawing.
• 2010 Christmas Show, Russell Gallery, Putney.
• 2010 RBA, Mall Galleries. Line fishermen painted while waiting for the boats to return.
• 2008 East Anglia Art Fund Show in Castle Museum. Sold first, before I got to the pv!
• 2008 taken on by Pink Foot Gallery, Cley as one of their permanent artists
Passing It On:
2024: Teaching a new group of assorted painters using different mediums, in regular classes.
2023: Begun a social group of six local painters. We’ve been meeting about once every two months or so, to chat, sketch, paint together and learn from each other.
2015-2020: Organised workshops for the Institute of East Anglian Artists to spread fun and learning from esteemed national painters such as Haidee-Jo Summers, John Tookey and Daniel Shadbolt. Initially in various spots of the IEA region, then zooming on-line during lockdown.
2013: Book: Painted and wrote the text for “Working North Norfolk; A Painter’s Story”, published by Red Hare.
2010: National Trust Residential Course, Painting outside in winter. Brancaster Staithe
