Ruth Allen

Ruth studied Textiles & Illustration initially and became interested in 1950’s textile design & the work of Lucienne & Robin Day. After graduating in 1997 her interest in domestic design continued with more involvement with the interior combined with her love of architecture.
Her work is now produced onto canvas, which goes through a number of stages before the end product. Ruth begins with a series of line drawings from photographs & then adapts these through use of colour & fabrics.
She says ‘I mask out areas on the canvas & ad my chosen colour palette. I am very selective where I choose to paint & like to capture the decorative aspects. Fabrics are then stitched onto the canvas adding another texture & depth to the overall work. Finally a continuous black line is added.’
Her current collection of work has been inspired by many European cities including London, Barcelona, Rome & Amsterdam.

Trinidad Ball

Born in Barcelona, of Catalan parents, Trinidad Ball has lived in Spain, Latin America and England, where she currently resides. She has trained at Central St Martins, Putney School of Art and South Thames College.

Trinidad says ‘I started painting in 1997 and in 2003 I resigned my post as Probation Officer to dedicate myself full time to art. People and natural objects inspire me and I am excited by bright, strong colours and how they interact. I particularly enjoy the drama created by darkness and light and strong shadows. I am inspired by traditional artists such as Velazquez, Goya & Caravaggio and more contemporary artists such as Hopper.

I describe myself as a Contemporary Realist artist. I use minimalist backgrounds to emphasise the power of the subject, be it people or natural objects. Through lengthy observation I get to know their qualities in intimate detail and try to convey these through my paintings, capturing their character and uniqueness. My aim is to create a ‘more than real life’ effect and give the viewer the illusion that they can touch and feel or even smell my paintings.

Mandy Belmokhtar

Mandy Belmokhtar was born in England in 1952. After completing her studies at Portsmouth Art College, she moved to London to study with Fernado Montes, from whom she learnt the ancient art of Egg Tempera (Egg tempera is a painting process that uses egg yolk to bind pigments. The artist must manufacture the paints him or herself by the simple process of mixing finely ground pigment, water and dilute egg yolk. The paint is then applied in a method where the optical laws of egg tempera are obeyed thus the unique surface of egg tempera will be achieved. The artist has also to prepare the ground on which to paint. ).
During the last 20 years she has concentrated mainly on still life. Now she is painting mainly on canvas producing a range of images from landscapes through flowers to animals.
Mandy has shown at both Harrods and Liberty’s

Monica Boxley

The gallery carries a range of works from Monica, from her beautiful handbags to her wonderful handmade silver jewellery. "My love of accessories probably started when I was about six" says Monica. 'Dressing up in my mother’s clothes – the shoes, bag, gloves, hat and scarf and of course jewellery and red lipstick! How wonderful it is now to be able to conjure up jewels hand-crafted from silver, semi-precious stones, glass beads, fabric, perspex or even rubber! In fact the combining of eclectic and unexpected materials is what excites me'.

'Last year I found a photograph of my parents in 1963 and it was the start of a whole new venture for me. In this photo, my mother is holding a framed leather handbag that became the inspiration for my latest ‘Marianne’ handbag collection, designed and produced in London. The ‘Marianne’ bag is a handbag to set your heart on – nostalgic, evocative and desirable, hand-made in the finest leather with fabric linings that are complementary or contrasting, but always surprising'.

Jane Bristowe

Jane Bristowe, short-listed for Wildlife Artist of the Year 2008, combines her clear and distinct use of line with a passion for colour.

Her appealing style has established Bristowe as a leading exponent of animal images in the UK. Her innovative linocuts – display her inventive artistic imagination in capturing the simple appearances and character of a stunning array of animals – and have placed Bristowe among the best of this genre currently working today.

Bristowe‘s sassy linocut style makes her work immediately recognisable. Her bold single colour work creates an instant rapport with her subject matter and conveys not only the likeness of each character Bristowe has drawn but it’s individual personality as well.

Jane Bristowe's 'Meerkats' linocut will be exhibited in the Print Room of this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

Adam Butler

Adam was born in Edinburgh, and educated in Scotland and the Courtauld Institute in London.

His architectural and interiors photographs have been published in the leading interior design magazines and books in Italy, UK, Spain, Germany, the US and Asia including: Architecture Digest, Casa Vogue, Elle Décor, La Mia Casa, Spazio Casa, Ville e Casali, Loft Publications, GQ, etc.

In 1998 Adam published a beautiful book of photographs of the Italian Island of Panarea which was met with wild acclaim.

Charlie Camilleri

Charlie Camilleri works largely in clay, on semi abstract ideas, using the natural world and human form as her inspiration. Shape, form, simplicity and balance are important factors. Some of her ideas take off intuitively when working and change organically as she goes along.
“This flexibility is hugely important to the outcome of my work” explains Charlie. “The touch and feel of the clay and the capacity to enable a shape to develop without a rigid plan, all contribute to the tactile and textually varied pieces I produce”.
All Charlie’s work is individually hand built using coil or slabs of clay and may be left smooth and burnished or textured in a variety of ways. After bisque firing, smoke firings in wood shavings produce unique markings on each piece which is then polished with beeswax. Her body of work includes: wall pieces, indoor and outdoor stoneware sculpture and painting in mixed media with ceramics mixed into the canvas.

Lee Campbell

Lee Cambell describes her work in the following manner -"The essence of my work is distilled from my immediate surroundings and the current series is derived from the seasonal fluctuations of Richmond Park and the Thames. My intention is to use colour to generate different moods and to suggest dimensions hidden within familiar locations."

In 1995 Campbell became the first Resident Artist of King’s School, Canterbury, based in Blackfriars, the 13th century Dominican Priory which houses the school’s art department. In contrast with historic Blackfriars, she was also commissioned by the University of Kent to paint a mural for the Space Research Unit. Following this she worked as Resident Artist at Canterbury’s Christ Church College, where she taught and exhibitied work based on local architecture. Moving to London in 1997 Campbell established herself as the Resident Artist in St. Saviour’s Church, Pimlico where, working within the cavernous gloom of the empty church she explored the dramatic play of light upon the rich interior surfaces. Her work is held in private collections internationally.

Colin Castle

Colin trained for four years at the Berkshire College of Art & Design studying both art and design before moving into a successful career specialising in designing the interiors of international hotels. Throughout his career, Colin continued to hone his skills in painting and drawing, applying these in the presentation of his design ideas to clients.

Since 2007, Colin has refocused on art, applying the attention to detail that was so important in his design work to portraits of animals and houses.

Colin’s skill lies in painting an image that goes beyond that of the photograph. In particular, his animal portraits capture the personality of the subject and bring life and energy to the subject, portraying the animal from unusual angles, as if peeking inquisitively at the viewer.

Colin’s animal portraits have led to him being commissioned by numerous people to paint portraits of their pets, which he paints in a similar way to his livestock portraits. He also undertakes commissions, painting portraits of houses and people.

Holly Caulfield

Holly Caulfield is inspired by her own sense of spirituality to produce paintings that are uplifting and peaceful, she feels that the process of creating is a form of meditation and can be felt in the work.
Her influences include primitive art, ancient myth and ritual, and how in times past creating Art was a sacred act and had an important role in the community. The figures that feature in the work are symbolic and represent aspects of our inner selves, the princess is a joyful soul, childlike and playful, she can be compared to the child within.
Birds, hands, mythical beasts and symbols are all employed in Holly’s work; each carries a meaning that will resonate with us on a deep level even if we may not be aware of it. The Goddess series are multi layered, built up over a period of time and are calming and meditative. Colour is also strong in Holly’s work with the power to uplift and energise.
Holly works mainly in acrylics with mixed media. She studied illustration at Kingston University and Bath Spa University, graduating in 1997.

Christopher Cockburn

At age 18 Christopher arrived in London and studied zoology at Imperial College. From there he went on expeditions to East Africa and Malaysia. He then worked as a researcher in Cambridge and the USA using his time in-between projects to travel to remote parts of the world.
In 1997 Christopher reinvented himself as an artist, training ay London’s City Literary Institute. Since then he has been involved with printmaking, pottery and stained glass. Almost all his work reflects his love of nature. Fortunately his many travels have allowed him to see most of the animals in the wild.
His lino prints of slightly stylised animals are almost always printed from a single block. He uses linseed oil based inks and generally his editions are of 26. These can take up to 2 months to prepare as each colour is layered one upon the other, with a week in-between to dry. Most of his prints have 7 or 8 colours.

Jenny Cufflin

Jenny says the following about how she works, “The sea has been a recurring theme, whether it is the shoreline, where the land meets the ocean; windswept cliffs or wide open beaches and skies; the salty places, where waves crash or lap quietly; places filled with light and air and the sound of the elements; harbours and coves, where there is an ever-changing landscape with the tides; or the ephemera of the seashore, flotsam and jetsam, seashells and driftwood. All provide a wide and varied subject matter.
My work is rooted in observation and personal experience. I use my sketchbooks to record the things that catch my eye and imagination; fragments of poetry, colours, textures and shapes as well as small, often representational, drawings. These together with personal photographs and memory provide a rich source of information from which to begin work”.

Veta Gorner

Best known for her inventive etchings, Veta creates images which are both vulnerable and strong at the same time. Her main artistic interest is the expressive nature of motion and its dialogue with space. Her work is concerned physical structure as well as the thought and emotion that move an organism to action.

Veta’s original printmaking style merges the art of traditional etching with the dimensional qualities of highly embossed paper. She achieves this by deep-biting zinc matrix plates from which every impression is hand printed by the artist herself. Textures and lines transferred from an etched zinc plate create images only possible in print making.

Veta says ‘My recent work explores static representations of a dynamic subject. I concentrate on a moving form on a flat surface. My prints combine the dimensional qualities of an open bite etching (with its almost sculptural effect.) with dynamic colours and strong line drawing in order to describe motion as fragmented still, flat shapes.’

Mary Hayward-Smith

Mary’s paintings could be described as still life; the reality is far from that truth. Each painting contains ceramics, contemporary, ancient or multicultural and suggest a place, be it an interior or a more abstract space. The intention is to create work that is calming and quiet, a reaction against our busy domestic and working lives. Mary will often use empty spaces and dramatic lighting to achieve this and use a limited palette so to unite the vessels with their surroundings thus enhancing the atmosphere.

Mary trained at Goldsmiths in London, WSCAD Farnham and Wimbledon School of Art.

Priscilla Jones

Priscilla has been producing contemporary embroidered textiles since completing her degree in Embroidery at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Historical textiles and fashion are the inspiration behind Priscilla’s pieces and she has developed this passion into her work.
Priscilla produces freelance designs for fashion and interior fabrics exporting to the U.S. Europe and Japan. She also has an extensive range of greeting cards designs that are hand made by her.
In addition to this Priscilla teaches textiles, embroidery and visual studies in Further and Higher Education, and runs workshops that explore stitch as a contemporary media to create art.
Her work explores the use of fabric in a constructive process using wire, thread, fabric, paint, wax, and stitch. These pieces are produced either in two or three dimensions and have a delicate quality that reflect the fragility of time.

Mandy Knapp

“I employ printmaking techniques in my practice. On canvas I burnish on the shapes and textures and on paper I utilise etching and collograph techniques. I am influenced by good design in architecture, furniture and textiles, creating images that sit well in modern interiors.
When working on a series of abstract images, I enjoy layering and masking out using collograph techniques. The term collograph is used to describe a technique which is like making a collage, then printing with it. For this I use an etching press for work on paper and on canvas I burnish using inked textured paper.
I also have more literal images in my portfolio, on a theme of domestic interiors. I use etching and drypoint techniques to create images of furniture and interior accessories.
I have had the privilege of being tutored by inspiring print makers, each with their own take on different techniques which has enriched my practice greatly. The most important factor learnt is to always work in a professional manner, thus ensuring a constant in the quality of my work.”

Liz Knutt

After her successful portrayal of Southern Ireland in the Connacht Collection Liz Knutt concentrated on views and events in Richmond upon Thames. Under the title “Theatreland Richmond” she produced a series of paintings featuring “Leap into Dance” productions and studies of Richmond Theatre. Two of her paintings have been hung in the Theatre.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew purchased her “Jools Holland Concert at Kew” considering it to be an essential addition to the Kew collection of art.

Her reputation as an artist meant she was granted unrestricted access to Hampton Court Palace to produce a series of very fine paintings. Liz is well know for her local scenes and has a strong affinity for the environment where she lives.

Liz Studied at Edinburgh school of Art and St Martin’s School of Art in London.

Joanne Last

Joanne was born in Surrey in 1962. She studied at the Putney School of Art from 1990-192 having previously graduated as a pianist from the Royal College of Music in 1983.
"My training as a classical pianist finds parallel in my art. I often paint to music, which seems to evoke an intuitive and immediate approach. I rarely plan or sketch but launch straight into an idea – the painting, in a way, directs itself. Every mark, shape or colour affects the whole and there is constant readjustment in trying to arrive at the definitive version. My recent paintings of the Alhambra and London Cityscapes explore the wonderful media of watercolour and pastel. This method of working has a particular quality of immediacy and vibrancy and allows me to capture the essence of a place – a sense of light and atmosphere".

Asha Lohd

Asha tries not so much to capture the body with her painting but the spirit within. She says about her work; “Working directly with a living, breathing model allows for a natural and unpremeditated approach, not otherwise possible. Sometimes I will draw the model as they are moving, sometimes, I will suddenly I will find the model in a position which I am compelled to draw. The drawings which fall onto the paper capture an immediacy and spontaneity which cannot be repeated. That fleeting moment, and my physical and emotional response to it, is what you see and is what I find so exciting about painting from life”.

Claire A Nops

Claire Nops trained as an architect, a profession she is still involved with. This training comes through in many of her beautiful architectural drawings of local scenes, from Kew Gardens to Hampton Court Palace, also painting the modern architectural structures such as Surbiton Railway Station.

After running a gallery in Teddington for many years, Claire now spends her time between Teddington and the Bahamas both painting and designing.

Vicky Oldfield

Vicky’s strong images are created using collagraphs, an experimental form of print making. The prints are taken from plates which have been collaged with a variety of materials: card, fabric, sand, paper, string and anything else that may come to hand; it’s recycling at its most creative!
The plates are then sealed and inked up and printed intaglio or relief on damp paper using an etching press. The embossed textural quality of the print is unique to this method.
Thanks to the process itself Vicky is able to make small editions of the image, the editions are variable due to the process and her desire to experiment, which means each print is unique.
Continually inspired by plants and animals that surround her, her pictures are an atmospheric response to the beauty and drama of her daily life.

Kate Pellegrini

My artwork is primarily concerned with finding and representing three dimensional space on a flat surface. It is how we perceive our surroundings and move around in space that interests me. The works can be divided into two groups:

Representational paintings, based on observation of external motifs

Abstract paintings, based on works of literature, and imagined motifs

The representational artwork reflects my architectural training, generated by making drawings and taking photographs ‘on location’ of views, most recently in Spain, France and Italy. The compositions are a layering of building, landscape, figure and still life motifs, enlarging the image and using the factual information to develop ambiguous spatial relationships. It is an attempt to reflect the experience of being in the world. The finished paintings rely heavily on drawing, and attempt to depict the joy of looking.

The abstract paintings are represented by the 'Killing Time' series, by Simon Armitage's poem of the same title, ‘Whitsun Weddings’ and most recently ‘Glanmore Revisited’ by Seamus Heaney. The poems provide the springboard for my own painterly investigations.

Sheila Roe

Although Sheila Roe was brought up in Bournemouth and seaside themes are constantly recurring in her work, Sheila loves living in London and is inspired by the city environment and the people living in it. She responds to the essence and vitality of a place and endeavours to capture the sense of being there.
Her new work concentrates on the dynamics of people using space, or moving through it – people who are still or on the edge of movement and aims to use a language of mark-making that conveys this edginess. She uses a variety of media including collage, mixed media, pastel and monotype prints.
Her emotional response to certain events has also influenced her work e.g. the release of the hostages John McCartney and Brian Keenan. Her painting “Homage to the Hostages” was hung in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The Pastel Society has also shown her work at the Mall Galleries.

Christine Seiterle

Christine was born in Switzerland in 1969. She studied Design, Painting and Drawing in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Since 1988 she has had various joint exhibitions and single shows in Switzerland and Southern Germany.

At first sight her images picture everyday scenes: groups of people walking, cycling, dancing, moving along. Her unusual perspectives let us observe these ordinary scenes from a different angle, this and Christine Seiterle’s superb use of light gives the work a dream-like quality.

Her cleverly pictured characters seem to float between earth and sky. The work becomes an ode to people and life, everyday life gets a heaven like quality.

David Stanley

David is a member of the Manchester academy of Fine Arts and a lecturer in painting at the Hugh Baird College of art in Bootle. He says of his work;
‘To be an artist means also to be an optimist; from the earliest beginnings a piece of work is a statement of faith.

It is in hope that I add or remove colour and through hope that my skills are tested. For it isn’t representation I look for it is more that the results of my efforts match my visual imaginings. I hope that my finished work fills me with the emotion that inspired it. And, even more so, it is my hope that its viewers can feel something of that inspiration.

It is with hope that art takes us beyond the ordinary’.

Henrietta Stuart

Henrietta Stuart paints abstracts in oil on canvas, in which she aims to evoke time and place, using colour and light. The paintings are based on 'things seen': formerly still life, now mostly landscape. She paints in thin layers, laying paint over paint to exploit its transparency, a technique of which Turner and Titian were both masters. Her formative influences included Georgio Morandi, Paul Cézanne, Georges Braque, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Clyfford Still. Morandi is remembered for pointing out that "There is nothing more abstract than the visible world". Henrietta sets out to make abstract compositions out of things she has seen, and been moved by:
"A world observed and translated - a world created from the natural and the man-made: 'still life' a still life both drawn and felt, as one would admire and caress a well-loved jug, or wonder at the light on the water of the Thames on a calm spring morning" - was how she put it some years ago, and it still holds true.
Henrietta was born in London and schooled in Twickenham, she has travelled widely and now lives and works in France.

Barbara Sykes

Barbara Sykes' work is considered meditation on the 'human condition' from birth to death. By pouring and staining the paper the paint is allowed to ebb and flow organically, suggesting the visceral, never dogmatic but rather evocative of our uncertain relationship with our own bodies.
She has studied Mother and Child imagery extensively and took inspiration from the works of Henry Moore, Mary Cassat, Mary Kelly and Kath Kolwitz

She uses water based paints and charcoal as her medium.
Barbara Sykes worked for many years as a textile designer for two Manchester studios. She later combined raising three children with freelance design.
In 1989 she returned to full time education and in 1993 she graduated from Bretton, Leeds University with a B.A Hons Degree in fine art. Also in that year, she was selected to be a studio holder with the Dean Clough artists in Halifax. Her work is in public and private collections in the UK, France, America and Slovenia.

Lisa Tolley

Lisa’s work is really about capturing everyday life; observing all small, but significant detail and the beautiful colours that surround us. She likes to include people, pets and mundane activities and hopes that painting them in such a way brings back memories or a even a smile to people’s faces.

She originally trained as a textile designer at Manchester Polytechnic, then worked in marketing, initially for Crowson Fabrics and then went on to be a buyer for The Conran Shop. She began painting again recently and has gradually extended her portfolio by working on commissions; one of them being notlets specially produced for the gallery.

Beverley Waller

Beverley Waller’s vibrant paintings are inspired by the Highlands of Scotland, where the land, sky and sea exist within a changing cauldron of light and weather. The emotional, sensual experience of this landscape is drawn with expressive use of colour and texture.
Living and working in South-West London, Beverley travels frequently to the North of Scotland. In addition to research for her paintings her travels north have led to exhibiting opportunities, most recently in an exciting group exhibition, The Highland Open. As a member of Kew Studios, she has access to their print studio, where she also etches and mono prints.
Beverley Studied at Wimbledon School of Art and Belfast Art College where she obtained an honours degree in Fine Art. In the last six years Beverley has had many solo and group exhibitions.

ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Stephanie Wilkinson

Stephanie’s practice utilises the theme of The Domestic to produce paintings employing familiar motifs such as chairs, tables, pots and plants. These scenes, constructed from imagination, are painted with acrylic in expressive, textured brushstrokes. They depict domestic environments as vibrant and aesthetically pleasing, which positions them well as interior design objects.

Using a variety of media which includes painting, photography and mixed media, her work explores the rich and complex roles prescribed for women, by nature or nurture, and the duality of their effects - sometimes producing feelings of claustrophobia and constraint and other times, pleasure and fulfilment.

Stephanie has a BA in Fine Art. She is a local artist who has lived in Hampton Hill for over 20 years. She has also lived in Brazil and Indonesia.

Elizabeth Wilson

Elizabeth Studied Fine Art at West Surrey College of Art, Farnham gaining her B.A. Honours and later
Won the Italian prize and Pennington drawing prize.

“I set up a still life in my studio which I then use to create a world of memories of places and landscapes that I have been to. After a while the painting I am doing will also be a memory of the objects I choose.
I am interested in the edges of things, different planes on the picture, and most of all colour. I often have night and day in one painting.

Colour and light, views through spaces inspire me. Small fleeting images seen from a car, or seen through a window. Things caught in time.”
.

Jim Woodman

“The inspiration for my work is the landscape" says Jim Woodman.

My paintings attempt to convey my response to the colours, mood and forms found in such diverse places as the Scottish Highlands and the Mediterranean.
I do not seek to portray the landscape as we see it with the naked eye, but to capture the intense emotions I experience in certain places – a windswept Scottish hillside with its deep purples and rusts, or a Tuscan town with its scorched hues of terracotta and bleached brick. Places move me.
I like to capture too the presence of human beings in the landscape – often a small isolated homestead dwarfed by the grandeur of nature reflecting the indomitable spirit of man to survive”

Steve Yeates

Working in figurative sculpture allows Steve to challenge the preconception of figurative art while continuing his belief in the use of recycled materials and its inherent methodology.

“My Sculptures can display an amazing array of definitive states from tragic and haunting to ethereal and dynamic. One of the lessons of my life has been that its transitions can illustrate to me the inconstant energy that is living in today’s often brutal society. By using recycled materials as much as possible in my work I continue the theme of transitional deconstruction into the construction of something aesthetic.


More recently I have sought to celebrate the dynamic energy of life, and the fascination of movement through traditional materials such as reclaimed bronze (from decommissioned boats) and lead crystal whilst still challenging core aesthetic values of figurative art”.