Archives: Artists

As a contemporary seascape and landscape painter, Barry’s aim is not to capture, but to celebrate the place he is painting. The way that light plays across the land and sea has always been a huge inspiration for his work.

Barry grew up on the South Devon coast and much of what he paints is inspired by the exciting lines, dramatic shapes and varying textures of the coastline. His goal is to find the same feeling that made him stop and draw or photograph the scene in the first place. 

Photography and sketchbooks play a pivotal role in the developmental process of Barry’s painting.  On visits to new and familiar places he will sketch, make notes (such as tide times, sea state, weather conditions and OS map references) and take photographs that will later influence a series of works on paper and canvas.

Having moved to rural Oxfordshire, Barry is greatly inspired by the rolling landscape around the River Thames and beyond. His work aims to celebrate this beautiful scenery, whilst reflecting the energy and dynamism of the environment.

Kate works with paper, cutting intricate designs by hand to create delicate, complex layers.  There are 2 quite different strands to her work which use this technique to create distinct visual outcomes.

The geological series explores pattern and colour in the landscape and natural world on a macro and micro level. Satellite imagery reveals beautiful colours and pattern in the landscape, both natural and man-made, and micro images of plants and natural objects often reveal surprisingly similar structures. Kate is especially interested in marks on the landscape created by natural forces such as flowing water, or scars created by human activities such as mining and farming; the shaping of our landscape over time.

The architectural series explores structure and light, focusing on traditional architecture as well as contemporary structures. By exploiting the qualities of cut and layered paper, the fall of light becomes central to the work and helps define the image.

Kate studied fine art at Camberwell College of Arts in London followed by a PGCE in Art and Design.  She is a member of the Oxfordshire Art Society.

Scottish- born painter Catriona Herd splits her time between New York and the UK.

Catriona has staged successful solo exhibitions in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Edinburgh, Frankfurt and Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Catriona travels throughout the UK and all over mainland Europe making plein air sketches in pastel and watercolour.

She is inspired by light, atmosphere and structure in the landscape and especially by colour.  A misty, rainy day might seem neutral in colour but Catriona says she will see ‘blues, greens, ochres and purples…… a complex pattern of colour.’  Hence the need for extensive plein air sketches.

Her process back in the studio involves more studies in pastel and oil paint, trying to capture the rhythm and composition, before beginning a large oil painting.

Catriona gained a post graduate qualification at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.  More recently she attended the Art Student’s League in New York, where she won a scholarship to Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado and a six week scholarship to study and paint at the Marchutz School in Aix-en -Provence.

Henrietta Lawson Johnston is a professional artist living in North Oxfordshire.  After studying History of Art at university, she decided her first love was painting and spent some time training at the Atelier Canova in Rome where she chose oils as her medium.

Henrietta draws inspiration from her love of nature and the fascinating scope of still life, whether it be a simple object or the beauty found in ripe fruit.  Her work is classical in style and her choice of light and tone calm in quality.  She chooses to matt varnish her work, so that, while drawing on centuries of tradition in oil painting, the finished piece has a contemporary feel, enabling her work to sit well in any interior setting. Henrietta also works on commission.

Making ceramics is something I wanted to do for a very long time. I finally began a few years ago, when I spent 3 years at City of Oxford College on a one-day a week course. I soon discovered that I needed more time for making, and set up my own garden studio at home, where I have been working for a few years.

I throw and turn my vessels on the wheel, using either pure porcelain or porcelain mixed with some stoneware. My bowls and vases are made to be used or simply looked at. The forms I throw are mostly inspired by the classic shapes of oriental ceramics, though who could add to the perfection of a Song bowl? I make work in series of similar forms, but unconstrained by a rigid specification, enjoying the subtle variations between pieces. I relish exploring glaze colours and textures, and trying to find a variety of surfaces that complement the simplicity of the forms.

I enjoy the way pots look when grouped together, the shapes and shadows between the forms, and the relationship between the colours and textures of the glazes. My ceramics can be enjoyed as single pieces, but they seem also to complement each other when combined in small groups. I also enjoy how a good pot feels when weighed in the hand, that sense of balance that tells you when it’s right.

Beatrice Hoffman grew up in Germany and studied sculpture at the Norwich School of Art from 1986-9.  She is based near Oxford and  works mostly in solid and coiled clay, creating sculptures both figurative and abstract to be cast in bronze ( resin), varying in height between 25 and 230 cm.  With her sculptures, Beatrice wants to achieve a certain degree of simplicity and abstraction.  Some of her ideas for sculptures derive from her other career as an arts educator and therapist, which makes her very aware of the psychological and expressive potential of sculptures.  Beside sculptures for the domestic and garden environment, she has been working in polystyrene and plaster on a larger scale (2013-14 as part of an artist-in-residency at the Chenderit School), suitable for either garden or a a more public setting.

 

John is at heart an observational painter who likes to work on location whenever possible in order to experience and react to his surroundings directly. Much of his work, in oil or watercolour, is started en plein air and completed in the studio with the aid of photographs and sketches.  His drawing skills, honed in his former work in graphic art and design, enable him to tackle often complicated subjects with confidence that evocative and expressive brushwork is underpinned by sound construction.

John divides his time between producing new work, painting to commission, teaching, demonstrating, and writing articles on technique, several of which have been published in The Artist magazine. He has staged many one-man shows and has contributed work to The Pure Watercolour Society at Windrush and The Sunday Times Watercolour exhibition in the Mall Galleries.

 

My paintings are born from an emotional response to places I visit and views that I witness in my day to day life.  Outwardly, they relate to different light and colour in the landscape.  I then relate these to inward feelings and memories and things which are currently going on in my life.  Sometimes the history of a place and a feeling about a place will have an effect on my paintings.  All of them are about beauty in the landscape and moments where this beauty affects us. This in turn correlates with specific events and happenings in my life.