Secret Postcard Auction - Meet the Artists 2024

"I am interested in empowering the female form, depicting women through history to present day. Characters may feature in a humorous, fantastical environment or as a standalone portrait. I also reference the natural world with a playful utopian imagining of landscape and its' inhabitants. Recent work explores the mycelium underworld that invisibly sustains and nourishes the planet from its' very own Queendom."

"Alix Baker has spent the greater part of her art career as a military artist and historian, working on official commissions for military units and museums, for collectors worldwide and contributing to history books and specialist journals. She was honoured to be the Chairman of the Armed Forces Art Society for 6 years, the first woman and first non-military serving person to do so. She also paints many other subjects in several styles and media and exhibits widely in London (ROI, RSMA, RBA, SWA and others), the home counties and abroad. Alix is lucky to have received many awards. She judges art for exhibitions and writes occasional articles on the pursuit of art as a profession or hobby. On several occasions she has been the subject of study by A Level and GCSE students. Alix lives in Longparish, Hampshire and is a member of several national and local art societies. "

"Allan J Robertson is a landscape painter based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Robertson?s paintings explore his fascination with the relationship between architectural structures and the foreshore environment. His paintings use bold and heightened palettes to create atmospheric and intense in-depth key sections within the paintings. Manipulating light and dark, he contrasts vast, intense skies and disquieting backdrops with detailed structural elements. The resulting images are rich in texture and colour and evoke an intense sense of place. His work is held in private collections in UK, Europe, and North America. "

"I work from the heart. Using my personal history and stories. The work is a mixture of planned and unplanned. Memories and imagination are accessed by letting my subconscious take the lead. I am fascinated by human relationships, attachments - our psychology and habits. Fragility and mortality appears in my work. I process trauma through the art process. My work is bold and colourful. I use intense colour, either with mixed media, gouache and fluorescent paints. I aim to catch a particularly strong emotion, different feelings. Sometimes, I hope to suggest something ?other-worldly?. It?s a wish or a hope for more. I don?t believe in in life after death but wish there was something else. Each art work is (in a sense) a small part that belongs to a larger collection. I see the different paintings as part of a larger body of work that reflect on the broader tapestry of my life. A Gestalt."

"Amy Shuckburgh works in oil paint, soft pastel and collage, using strong colour and energetic marks to explore scenes of domestic life, as well as rural and urban landscapes. Amy's landscapes are preoccupied with how environment affects mood. Inspired by expressionism and fauvism, she augments colours and uses dynamic brushstrokes to convey the emotion felt in a place. Her drawings and paintings of motherhood and the home explore internal landscapes with a focus on narrative, memory and time."

"Andy Farr painter and storyteller. Andy is an award-winning artist with a studio in Coventry's Canal Basin. He graduated from Coventry University with an MA in Painting in 2017. He started a PhD at Nottingham University in April this year, researching “Trauma Portraiture” He is drawn toward telling stories that often go untold, recounting the lives of unsung Coventry people, or the narratives of people facing mental health challenges. Creating these paintings can be demanding, but also incredibly rewarding for both the subject and myself as the artist. "

"Anita Klein studied at Chelsea and the Slade Schools of Art. From 2003 to 2006 she served as president of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers (PRE) and has paintings and prints in many private and public collections in Europe, the USA and Australia, including Arts Council England, the British Museum, the V&A and the British Library. She exhibits regularly with Eames Fine Art as well as widely in the UK, Europe and Australia dividing her time between studios in London and Italy. "

"Heavily inspired by colour and how colour converses with not only other colours but also the viewer. It is not just about the colour and the combination, it is about the quantity and location in relation to one another. Finding that perfect balance is a never ending exciting experiment. Anna explores the simple lines and shapes in her immediate surroundings particularly architecture and interior scenes, which is then broken down into blocks of colour. With unnecessary detail omitted, this allows the colours of light and shadow to be emphasised. Anna?s paintings are in private collections around the world including USA, Canada, Australia, Peru, Europe and the UK."

"London-born artist Annabelle Shelton creates figurative paintings and drawings that explore the negative space within a piece of art. Annabelle?s work is often characterised by scenes of crowds as she is interested in how people come together in certain spaces. Annabelle is an interdisciplinary artist, working with watercolours, acrylic and often using spray paint on aluminium. Whilst her figures are detailed and injected with a realist sense of energy, Annabelle leaves the backgrounds completely empty, so as to draw attention to the space that exists between us."

"Anne Desmet was born in Liverpool, UK, in 1964. She gained a BA & MA at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking at Central School of Art and Design, London, UK. She has taught wood engraving widely, inc. at the RA Schools, British Museum and Middlesex University and is a former External Examiner in Fine Art at Aberystwyth University and at Kingston College of Art. In 2011, Desmet was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and is only the third wood engraver ever elected to the RA in its entire history. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and the Society of Wood Engravers (SWE). In 2018, she was elected an Honorary Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford."

"Currently in S5 at High School, Asher is studying psychology and computing science. He mostly does built-environment drawings and landscape paintings, but often explores other medias and subject matters. "

"I have been a finalist in the National Open Art Competition 2015, the Platform Open Arts Competition 2015 & 2016, the Black Swan Arts Open 2016, The Bath Open Art Prize 2019, Ferens Art Gallery Open Exhibition 2019 & 2022, the Bradford Open Exhibition 2011 & 2019, the Barbican Arts Group Trust ? Artworks Open 2020 and the New Light Prize Exhibition 2020/21. My work has been exhibited in the UK and Europe. I have had the great honour of exhibiting alongside artists such as; David Hockney, Matthew Krishanu, Sean Williams, Robert Priseman, Karl Bielik, Lisa Robinson, Narbi Price, Cathy Lomax, Frank Auerbach, Tracey Emin, Andrew ?Mackie? McIntosh, Alan Davie, Sir Terry Frost (RA), Zoran Music, Andrew Salgado, Enzo Marra, Joan Miro, Terry Greene, Carla Groppi, Sandra Blow (RA), Yuma Tomiyasu, Maurice Cockrill (RA), John Bratby (RA), Mandy Payne, Henry Inlander and William Gear (RA)."

"Bench Allen is a London based printmaker and illustrator, hailing from the Ocean City of Plymouth. Bench Allen is a London based printmaker and illustrator, hailing from the Ocean City of Plymouth. Known for his encyclopaedic documenting of natural history and specialising in nautical narratives; his work is inspired by the beauty of the natural and unnatural world - from the Mariana Trench to the Crab Nebula."

"It is not easy to account for the hallucinatory power and beauty of Brian Sayers? latest paintings. All are still lives depicting various household vessels and implements; most of these look innocent enough, although others suggest the obscure and possibly nefarious practices of a long lost civilization. Yet despite the museum-like hush in which these objects dwell, they slowly become imbued with a range of human emotions: from anxiety, to quotidian contentment by way of a dream- like introspection; all seem present in the internal arguments of these compositions. Like earlier painters of the still life such as Zurbaran, Cot?n and Morandi, Sayers achieves his uncanny effects though nuance and restraint, and through a meticulous attention to the harmonies and tensions of form. To enter his work is to enter a cabinet of curiosities in which the art of seeing is transformed into an almost mystical fascination with everyday objects, the space that surrounds them, and the relationships they may or may not have with each other, and with us."

"Caroline studied at the Corcoran Gallery School of Art in Washington DC under their famous war artist Brockie Stevenson. Later?attending master classes in painting and drawing at The Slade School of Art in London.?She works?in oils, watercolours and egg tempera; She has been an en plein air painter for most of her life, travelling all over the Middle East, India and Myanmar. She is a member of the London Plein Air Painters, Chelsea Art Society & The Fulham Art Society"

"Ceal Warnants lives and works in London, UK. Warnants' work focuses on the conflicting expectations of young people today contrasted with the imposing standards of the past. Collectors include Aimee Lou Wood, Sadie Frost, Laura Bailey, Theo Fennell, Dr. Alexander van Tulleken, Indira Varma, Amber Le Bon, Suranne Jones, Busy Phillips, Samantha Ronson, Martha Plimpton, Holly Tucker MBE and The Hon William Yerburgh. Commissions and collaborators include Aimee Lou Wood, Jealous Gallery, the Big Issue, Coco Fennell, House of Vans, Art on a Postcard, Promising Young Woman (film) and Hope for Podencos."

"I am a Nigeria-born British fine artist, living and working in London. I have been active in the London art scene since the late 1980s. My works are remarkable for their depths of expression and thought. At first glance, the viewer is presented with rich vibrant colours, harmoniously orchestrated like music ? using impasto. Art to me is about life, celebration and immediacy: something to be enjoyed and appreciated. But on a closer look, I have always a message beyond the aesthetic; a narrative which delves into my African root, as well as my philosophical leaning and pursuits. I am eclectic in my work, and challenge myself with the mastery of various artistic media, such as acrylic, oil, pastel, charcoal and watercolour, even though I paint mainly in oil and acrylic. "

"Christopher's paintings are autobiographical and introspective, drawing upon existence, experience, consciousness and sentience to express largely emotive responses through the use of vaguely identifiable elements, forms and motifs. Christopher's most recent body of work includes a series of Notes and Letter paintings."

"I'm an amateur artist interested in nature, gardening and how involvement with those things can help mental health. I've been diagnosed with PTSD at two different times in my life, the most recent as a result of my sons suicide at age 20. He was an artist, he encouraged me when I didn't really think I had much to offer, this is for him. My partner is a veteran, my father was a veteran, I'm aware we don't always look after them properly and would love to do my bit for all those who leave parts of themselves where they've been and brought too much of the bad stuff home."

"I have exhibited nationally & internationally including Paris, Liverpool, London, Oxford, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and Bath, as a prize winner at the Sunny Art Prize 2022 London group exhibition, Sunny Art Centre, Gray's Inn Road, London & Bath Open Art Prize 2023. I have been selected for John Moores Painting Prize 2018 Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, RWA Academician Candidate 2019 & 2023, Beep Painting Prize Biennial 2020 & 2022, Elysium Gallery, Swansea. Jackson's Painting Prize 2019 & 2023 Bankside Gallery London and Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2023, London. 2023 Solo show Essence of Place, That Art Gallery, Bristol. Wells Art Contemporary (WAC) 2024, Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset. I am co-founder of CLaSH Art Space Bristol, where I have a studio. I graduated from Bath Spa University with a Masters Degree in Fine Art and from the University of the West of England with a first class honors degree in Drawing and Applied arts. I won an award to attend the Helsinki Drawing Laboratory at Aalto University, Helsinki in 2013 and I have recently returned from an art residency at The Booth on the Shetland Isles June 2024."

"Former curator at Scotland's National Museum of Flight and previously at the Scottish Naval Collection. Served five years with the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service in the 1980s."

"Cressida Bell is a British designer specialising in textiles and interiors. From her London studio, she produces a wide range of products including accessories for men and women and artefacts for the home. She also undertakes the production of many bespoke items from stationery and illustration to murals, carpets and furnishing fabrics. Cressida set up her company in 1984 on leaving the Royal College of Art. She previously studied in the fashion department of St Martin's School of Art in its 1980s heyday. Her work is known for its uncompromisingly decorative nature and its independence from mainstream fashion. There is an undoubted influence from her well known Bloomsbury Group forebears (Quentin Bell was her father and Vanessa Bell her grandmother); but it is not an all-pervading one, and she has forged her own very individual style over the last 4 decades. "

"Working directly in paint, without preliminary sketches, my work is a reciprocal process, call and response, between artist and painting. Time to drift and reflect are crucial. The clock stops. It?s beautiful to take time to float, the thought experience is rich, engulfing, diffuse and beautifully elusive. Brush strokes and colours trigger imagery. Surprising and familiar thought materialises and disintegrates. The orderly mind grasps but imagery slips in and out of focus. Mixed emotions and memories emerge; absurd, tender, personal. I am interested in what kind of thinking is taking place during the painting process and how it gives us access to this very specific quality of thought. It feels as though we are sometimes looking through the telescope the wrong way around when talking about painting. "

"Hi my name is David and I am a South London-based painter. I love to tell stories and aim to convey a narrative through a colourful, emotive and bold style that expresses character and humour. Almost all of my work work is figurative and I aim to convey is a connection and empathy with the subject. With my portraits in particular hope to capture personality and spirit in an expressive style. In my broader pieces I tell more of the subject?s story and build fictional scenes around characters integrating symbols, words, texture and patterns to further connect on an emotional and aesthetic level. I take my inspiration from an amalgamation of every day life and experience that I witness and see unfold, intermingled with popular culture and iconography. Inspiration can come from anything, be it how I see someone put down paint or make a mark, a photograph, literature, poetry, a humorous soundbite, a texture or pattern. My wife?s dance moves. "

"David?s paintings aim to present a realistic record of war. He has received many commissions from the Army and RAF. He has had a passion for sketching soldiers since childhood. In 1974, he joined the staff of the National Army Museum. He began as a full-time artist in 1977. He was invited to accompany soldiers on exercises in Germany during the Cold War, and on operations in Northern Ireland. In 1991 he was the only professional artist in the Gulf at the invitation of the Army, attached to a Warrior crew of 3rd RRF in the desert, sharing the experience of soldiers in the front line and sleeping in bivouac alongside armoured fighting vehicles. In 1993 he was the first war artist to visit Bosnia and British troops in Operation Grapple. In 1995 he painted British, French and Dutch troops around Sarajevo. In 1999, he accompanied the Army into Kosovo. In 2001, he was commissioned by Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) to record Exercise SAIF SAREEA in Oman. David has accompanied the Army on operations in Afghanistan (2003, 2007 & 2008). He was hosted by 7 Armoured Brigade in Iraq in 2003. He has painted numerous pictures for the Special Forces. "

"David Storey is a renowned British figurative painter, and a Threadneedle Prize finalist, whose emotionally charged paintings are an exploration of memory, with half-remembered people and places emerging from complex layers of texture and colour. His process is physical, preferring fingers, rags and sponges as his tools for applying colour and texture. He wants us to be absorbed by the effortless experience of gazing upon his work which itself is paradoxically underpinned by the enormous effort put in for his paintings to appear that way. "

"David Wightman (b. 1980, Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK) is a British painter and printmaker based in London, UK. He creates beautiful paintings and prints of fictional landscapes. The surfaces of his paintings are made from textured wallpaper collaged with a technique similar to marquetry. Colour and composition are the key aspects of his work. He studied Fine Art at Middlesex University (2001) and gained an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London (2003). In 2010, David Wightman was awarded the Berwick Gymnasium Arts Fellowship - a six-month residency in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, funded by Arts Council England and English Heritage. In 2013, he was selected by the curator of House Arts Festival, Mariele Neudecker, to make a site-specific painting for a disused pavilion on Brighton?s seafront. The commission was funded by Arts Council England. In 2014, Wightman collaborated with the fashion label Akris for their Fall / Winter 2014/15 collection. His work has featured in Harper's Bazaar, The Guardian, Times Radio, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, The World of Interiors, BBC News, BBC North West, and Money Week."

"A Fashion Design graduate from Kingston University, Deane Hodgson operates from his studio in the North-East of England under the guise of Mr What & Mrs Why. His art involves experimenting with found ephemera to create contemporary analog collages that explore a diverse range of subject matter, from architecture and automobiles to animation and abstraction. He enjoys nothing more than to root around second-hand shops and fairs for old, unloved photographs, books and magazines, which he breathes new life into to produce his wildly varied works. Using no digital manipulation whatsoever, his hand-cut approach gives real connection to his work, with any slight imperfections only serving to enhance and embrace the repurposed nature of it. "

"Debra Danu Matthews is a London born artist based in the United Kingdom whose works have been widely exhibited. Her work is energised and fresh, capturing the energy and colour aura of her subject in her dynamic watercolour paintings. Going beyond the painting, Debra then processes and breaks down the image via various printing methods before slicing the printed images up and rebuilding into these captivating collage images. Previous commissions: BBC, OU, VW & Audi, Play Association, Absolute Radio Residences: BP, Mobile, MK Play Association Awards include - Gift of Life National Fertility Week- 1/20 finalist- London, United Kingdom Sony Award - Absoloute Radio Beddiel and Skinner animated Podcasts, London, United Kingdom Milton Keynes Artist of the Year- First- Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 2023: Currently nominated for Female Creative 2023 Milton Keynes Inspiration Awards "

"Dotmasters is an internationally renowned street artist and multi-media creator, with an eclectic career spanning more than three decades of practice. His eclectic and evolving style takes a sideways look at populist culture, delivered with a typically British sense of humour. Behind Dotmasters is Leon Seesix, an early pioneer of street art in the ?90s. Originally based in Brighton, his art practice started as a revolutionary mix of stencil street art, graffiti, performance and digital art, with work exhibited online, on the street, in gallery installations and nightclubs."

"British artist Edd Pearman is known for his iconic paintings of the human form. Using oversimplification and limited palettes, Pearman captures his subjects with super-real clarity, reminding us that the painted form still possesses power over the photographic. Born in 1976, Pearman graduated with an MA in Fine art at the Royal College of Art in 2001. Shortly after, Pearman won the Linklaters Printing Award, and was exhibited at the Dali Museum, Hockney Gallery and the Liverpool Biennial of Contemporary art. Notable solo exhibitions include ?Social Studies? (2003) and ?Nude & Bird Studies? (2005), and he has been included in a number of group exhibitions in the UK, New York, Berlin, Venice, and Japan, including Bloomberg ?New Contemporaries? (2002), the ?New Artist Unit? at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (2006), and the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). His work attracts noteworthy collectors including, the Chapman Brothers, Sir Peter Blake, Soho House, V&A, Clifford Chance, Basil Alkazzi Foundation, and the Bank of America, and he has been published in The Guardian, The Times, and Saatchi Magazine. "

"Contemporary Landscape Artist. My paintings relate to the beauty and essence of the landscape, revealing a spirituality and otherness that we take for granted. The elements from within landscape particularly the wild open places of the Peak District and the Hebrides are particularly inspiring and I use these as a basis for exploration with many different medias. Painting for me is a means of discovery of the landscape but through my own inner emotions and intuitive responses which often are completely different to my observations."

"Eleanor Shakespeare is a photomontage illustrator based in South London. Her work comprises photographic ephemera with bold colour palettes, handmade textures and mark making to suit a wide variety of contexts. Eleanor enjoys the challenge of tackling all kinds of weird and wonderful subject matter, using found material to create truly unique illustrations. "

"Bursting with colour and energy, Elizabeth Power?s paintings exude a warmth and vibrancy. Based in St Leonards on Sea, UK, Power?s work has a colour palette rich in coral pinks, forest greens and cool blues. Drawing inspiration from colourists such as Matisse, Hockney, Milton Avery and Tal R, Power?s loose and free abstraction takes this to the next level. Power has been featured by the likes of British Vogue, The Royal Academy of Arts, Soho House, Heals, The London Design Festival, John Lewis, Munthe, Artsy, Delphian Gallery, Art For Charity Collective, Art On A Postcard, The Auction Collective, Print Club London, Big Yin Gallery, 99 Projects London, The Old Bank Vault, Well Hung Gallery and Hancock gallery."

"Emily Firmin is one half of TOTALPAP who make three dimensional papi?rmach? wall mounted pictures, freestanding sculptures, Automata , ceramics and Limited edition linocuts printed on our 1869 Albion Press. Often they lean towards humour but try to incorporate an element of peculiarity.They started selling them at Camden Market. This was the recession of the early 90's and Camden Market was expanding at a rate due to the amount of people turning their hand to market stalls to earn some money. Fortunately they had just finished building the Victorian Craft hall next to the lock and took a shine to the work. During the early 90's Totalpap were commissioned by Royal Mail to produce a Clown image for a stamp set titled the Greetings stamps. Their stamp was used to promote the set across the uk. Since then Totalpap have been involved with many exhibitions including some marvellous automata shows alongside notable makers."

"Emily Lazerwitz is an artist and mathematician born in 1991 in Washington D.C. (USA). She studied at Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London and Columbia University, New York. For Lazerwitz a myth is defined as a complex widely believed story that is inherently false yet explains phenomena that are inexplicable in nature. Her work tries to untangle this paradox by looking into structures that use a mythological system of logic to function. She takes complex qualitative and quantitative data from these systems and transforms it into simple infographic textile forms. She also explores the relationship between belief and truth. "

"I am unashamedly sentimental, having truly learnt that life is short and precious. My practice is embedded in the knowledge that in a moment, everything can change. This drives me to linger when tender moments arise and notice when connections and disconnections occur. I make oil paintings on linen canvases in a process that makes and removes marks, overlaying imagery, and revealing figures and the emotion of a moment. Although there is often a sense of immediacy and looseness in my current works, there are also more formal elements to my practice and my paintings."

"I graduated in 2016 from the MA Painting programme at Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London, where I was awarded the Vice Chancellor?s Scholarship. I have also completed two years on the Turps Banana painting programme (offsite). My work is held in several collections including the David Roberts Art Foundation. I co-curated an exhibition of 12 women painters titled A Room of One?s Own at the Koppel Project Central in London. I have completed artist residencies at the Koppel Project Hive Gallery and Canary Wharf New District. I also have degrees from the London School of Economics and Goldsmiths College, University of London. I live and work in London. My work is available from Aleph Contemporary and Tart Gallery London."

"Up-cycling fashion designer, @london.colour.walk runner, multidisciplinary artist. Florent lives and works in London, UK."

"Fran Giffard paints colourful and bold birds over her personal Moleskine diary pages. Inspired by ornithological natural illustrations, Giffard uses watercolour, ink, gouache, and pencil to depict beautiful, poised, and characterful birds in her unique style. The diary entries detailing her day-to-day life serve as an interesting and informal background to her paintings. Giffard paints species from all over the world, with particular attention to South America, Australia, and Europe. Giffard studied Fine Art Drawing at Camberwell College of Art, graduating in 2010. Since then she has exhibited internationally, as well as throughout the UK. Giffard?s artwork is held in various private and public collections including that of Sir David Attenborough, The Duchy of Cornwall, The Imperial Healthcare Charity, Fidelity Investments Limited, Jardines Matheson, Masterworks Museum of Art, The Pensions Investment Corporation, Jupiter Asset Management, and Moleskine. "

"Frances is a UK based artist, who works with watercolour and gold leaf to create unique images that celebrate the natural and metaphysical world. Zoology and iconography meet in her work, juxtaposing the realism of these beautiful creatures with the lustre of 24ct gold. Focusing on endangered animals in the UK, her recent works use vintage targets as the canvas. She poses questions of value, and highlights the fragility of our ecosystems."

"Gary Bennett B.A. (Hons) is a figurative abstract expressionist painter , the official Artist for the British Nuclear community , an award winning artist with work in private collections that include White Hall Westminster, Brunell University London, the Manx Museum IOM. Exhibitions include Shadow of the Bomb tour, Sayle Gallery, Manannan Museum, Army Museum Chelsea and Lighthouse Gallery Glasgow. His practice is a communication through paint, colour and form in a hope to provoke or challenge the viewer into thought, sometimes this conversation can be translated as being very emotive, inspirational, as being heritage, a perception or a feeling of a personal experience and for the informant historical and present. A former member of the British Army and the prestigious Armed Forces Art Society, Bennett now lives , paints and exhibits at his home on the Isle of Man. "

"George Underwood was born in 1947. George joined Beckenham Art School in 1963. At art school George Underwood became more and more interested in music. As a result he pursued a career in the music world. Along with life long friend David Bowie he made one record (The King Bees ) and also a solo record under the name Calvin James. After deciding that the music business was not for him, George returned to art studies and then worked in design studios as an illustrator. Initially he specialised in fantasy, horror and science fiction book covers. Many of George Underwood's colleagues in the music business asked him to do various art works for them. This led to George becoming a freelance artist. Art work for the first T Rex album and later David Bowie's Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust album covers established him as a leading and creative art illustrator. Over this period George produced literally hundreds of book covers, LP and CD covers, advertisements, portraits and drawings. At the start of the 1970's George Underwood started painting in oils. His paintings were influenced at first by the Viennese School of Fantastic Realism -artists which includedErnst Fuchs, Rudolph Hausner and Eric Brauer. George regarded them as contemporary visionaries like Bruegel and Bosch. He was fascinated by their imaginative visions. Imagination is the key word in George's paintings. He rarely uses live models nowadays, prefering to invent people who inhabit their own personal world. George Underwood paintings are held in many private art collections. One of his art collectors, David Bowie, says: 'George has, over the years, refined his work to the point where I would put him among the top figurative painters coming out of the UK right now. There's a sublime isolation surrounding his subjects that really touches the viewer, the figures being both heroic and vulnerable simultaneously. There's a timeless element in the choice of subject matter that overlaps with the mythical world of Odd Nerdrum, say. Now that a huge shift to painting is taking place, I would expect to see George's name pushed further and further to the front'. "

"I like to draw and I like to paint. For me they are two quite distinct activities. In my paintings I work from memory, vision, idea, metaphor, hearsay or sensation. The time and light of day is significant for me in terms of colour and mood, and my paintings reflect my thoughts about occasions, not as a blinding truth (like a newspaper article) but more ambiguously. My drawings are usually small in scale and in a pencil monotone of many greys. I am prompted to draw what I experience and what I think about. In drawing I tend to reify an event, a thought, or an imagining. Drawing quite frequently clarifies my perception and might lead to a painting. However, in drawing there is something of the intimacy of handwriting, of things said quietly, perhaps in confidence. It is not a loud medium. My paintings carry the vibrations of many colours and textures and they can vary in size. My working methodology involves a reckoning between colour, causality and the idea until such time that the painting takes on a life of its own. I expect a painting to be read as much by how it is painted as by what it depicts. Paintings have the mysterious grace of their absolute fixedness. It is this their very stillness that crystallises them and redeems them. Thus looking at paintings enchants me and making paintings and drawings absorbs me endlessly."

"Giles Deacon is a London based couture designer and illustrator mixing fashion, fine art, theatre and grand scale glamour, known for his expertly crafted pieces using bespoke designed fabrics, prints and intricate embellishments. His pieces are worn and collected the world over by private clients, red carpet celebrities and royalty with pieces in the permanent collections of the V&A Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As a costume designer he has worked with the New York City Ballet, Marvel, Lions Gate Films and Fox Searchlight. His work receives international acclaim with coverage in publications including Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, W Magazine, Love, InStyle USA, Elle, The World of Interiors and The Wall Street Journal Magazine with features in the Times, New York Times, Figaro and The South China Post. Aside from fashion design Giles is an established illustrator and his work has been exhibited widely and has appeared in publications such as Vogue, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Interview Magazine and W Magazine. For his work Giles received the British Designer of the Year Award."

"Gina Parr is a widely collected painter and photographer who ?Paints? with her camera whist travelling. Photographed because of their inherent painterly illusion of horizon, scape and form, these chance marks, stains, colours and textures on distressed walls and other surfaces, some of which have been intentionally or accidentally laid down by others become chimerical worlds and fictional places. The photographs, often named as where taken, further confirms things not being as they seem; pictured utopias found in often deprived but reforming locales in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Sothern India, Cuba and Sri Lanka. Originally trained as a Fine Artist, graduating with a First Class BA Honours Degree, Parr went on to Chelsea College of Art to study Set Design, leading to a 25 year career creating a multitude of sets and stages for the likes of David Bowie, Kylie and Robbie Williams. She returned to work as an artist in 2007, bringing her years of creative experience as a designer to her art practice. She has exhibited in galleries and art fairs in the UK, Denmark, Italy and France, has completed commissions in The Middle East, Belgium, London and the USA, and has work in Keble College Oxford private Collection. "

"I am a collage artist living, and working, in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland. I?m passionate about collage and how it can present everyday images in a new light. I enjoy the challenge of piecing together, sometimes random, pictures to create a mood or a feeling. I also savour the playfulness of collage, and how art can be fun and may even raise a smile or two. "

"Helen Brough is a British artist known for her innovative work in oil on aluminum paintings, pastel drawings, and plexiglass sculptures . She earned her BA Honors and MA in Sculpture from Chelsea School of Art, London, and has been a prominent figure in the art world for over three decades . Brough has received several prestigious awards, including the Prix de Rome, the Prince Charles Travel Scholarship, and funding from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation . Her work is widely exhibited in the UK and the US, and features in notable collections such as the Cantor Fitzgerald Collection in New York and the National Art Museum in Budapest . She continues to create from her London studio, where she also offers visits for art enthusiasts ."

"Heath Kane is an Australian artist, based in the UK. Heath is synonymous with creating bold, striking, often lurid art. He embeds subtle, subversive themes that encourage a political or social conversation. Heath?s approach to art has always been driven by the practice of design thinking: combining his experience in commercial art with the origins of pop-art. We love how Heath focuses on creating simple, iconic and memorable pieces that have a strong narrative."

"North East artist committed to vibrancy and a quirky abstraction"

"Holly Frean is a painter, printer, blogger & producer of wallpapers & fabrics. Hollt lives and works in London."

"I was born in 1955 in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and could not wait to get away. From early in1974 until late 1976, in three separate trips, I travelled in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. On my second journey I borrowed from my Grandfather an old Ilford camera, and a friend recommended that I also took a bag of Black and White Tri-X film. After travelling I realised that I needed to advance my understanding of image making and photography so went on to study Fine Art in Sheffield. After graduating in 1981, I worked professionally as a freelance photographer for BBC Television, whilst continuing my own photographic projects, originally working with film and print in the darkroom and then eventually also digitally. The subjects that attract me now are those that focus the viewer on objects that might otherwise be overlooked and with subject matter that could often be seen as mundane. This means that I often work with still life, but with the aim of moving this traditional genre away from beautification and documentation towards realism and critical observation. "

"James Hoy is a London based artist who looks to find an intimate connection with the sitter or subject. Working with a variety of materials and techniques, his practice is always firmly rooted in drawing and observation. "

"I have been experimenting with art since the late 1980's whilst studying Fashion at Central Saint Martins. I suffered a mental breakdown and was sectioned in a Mental Hospital in 2008. During my recovery phase I began to paint everyday, developing my style and ideas as a continuation of the work I was creating in London. I gave up my Fashion dreams, and channelled my love of colour, line and style into painting Iconic popular figures in oil paints. Adopting a more narrative style, I have moved to the use of acrylics and I am now addressing the issues of fashion and climate change, sexual stereotyping and racial and gender prejudice. Looking to project a vision of peace and love on the planet as a cultural trend, the ethos of my paintings is resurrected from the Hippy era but dressed up in contemporary (but never fast !) Fashion. With a bias towards the conservation of the natural world, my paintings are evolving to represent an imagined blue print of the Earth as a beautiful garden, where humans and nature live together in harmony. Other works refer to business and production and the need to redesign the way we use the Earth's resources with renewable energy and a reduction of fast fashion and over production of unrecyclable consumer goods."

"Jane was born and brought up in Harewood near Leeds. She studied at Hornsey College of Art, London in the late 1960s and then was awarded a M.Sc. in Design Research at Manchester University (UMIST) in 1970. In the early 2000s she developed her professional art practice working with several groups of artists, particularly Bad Behaviour in Brixton, and the Riverside Artists Group (RAG) in west London. "

"British artist Jayson Lilley is a master of contemporary printmaking, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression by seamlessly blending painting, collage, and mark-making techniques in his awe-inspiring cityscapes. With an unparalleled ability to merge the precision of screen printing with fluid gestures, Lilley infuses his landscapes with vibrant energy and vitality."

"London based portrait painter."

"Jo de Banzie is a photographic artist and storyteller, who?s work combines historical research with memory and imagination. Employing the materiality of historic and alternative process, she turns a female gaze on the physical spaces and internal landscapes of loss. Her work is held in the National Art Library Collection at the V&A. "

"After receiving therapy, I realised that I had lost the ability to enjoy anything. This art, no matter how much I struggle to achieve, is both allowing me to regain control and showing me that putting the effort into it is a path to justifying my continued existence.? My pieces represent a personal journey of learning the sacrifices of service men and women before me who also suffered, but found a way to move forward. Be it still serving or as a veteran. The WW2 aircraft I sketch is a product of locality and convenience availability. Something I consider a privelage to have access to."

"John Taylor was originally trained as a theatre and film designer at Central St. Martins School of Art in London. He has been painting professionally for over twenty years and shows regularly in London galleries and art fairs. His work is held in private collections worldwide. John uses throwaway materials in the majority of his works where cereal packets, discarded carton card, envelopes and old papers all feature. These are often disguised, reconstituted and reinvented. The products and by-products of human existence are the materials for his work."

"Josephine Trotter is a renowned landscape artist who has shown her work at 25 solo exhibitions in London. In her early years she was tutored by Maurice Field, an English painter and printmaker closely associated with the Euston Road School. At St Albans School of Art she took drawing classes with the distinguished post-war artist Euan Uglow before graduating from Chelsea School of Art in 1961. For the past 50 years she has lived and worked in Oxfordshire but she has painted all over the world. Trotter generally works en plein air in a single creative burst. Ann Dumas, Curator of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and Curator of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, comments: "As with Van Gogh, the spontaneity of Trotter's work belies the though and the thorough grounding in technique that lies behind it.""

"Joshua Armitage (b. Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, 1986) lives and works in London. Armitage works primarily with painting and drawing. His painting practice is concerned with the intersections of observation, memory and feeling, combining sensory experience with various approaches to applying paint in the hope of conveying, replicating or conjuring remembered experiences from his past "

"Juliette Doughty nee Goddard after the late British Portrait painter William Doughty 1757 student of Sir Joshua Reynolds RA. I studied at Middlesex university graduating with a BA (Hons) Fine art , and continued to complete a master's degree in fine art print. I was sponsored by the late Henry Moore,at the RCA and I was selected to study a short term in Paris at l 'ecole des art decorotif, Paris France with Picasso s print technician creating opportunities for my interest in the French Tradition. I have exhibited through out the United Kingdom experienced international markets and countries abroad. Paintings prints ceramics and designs EDC. "

"Justin Mitchell is one half of TOTALPAP who make three dimensional papi?rmach? wall mounted pictures, freestanding sculptures, Automata , ceramics and Limited edition linocuts printed on our 1869 Albion Press. Often they lean towards humour but try to incorporate an element of peculiarity.They started selling them at Camden Market. This was the recession of the early 90's and Camden Market was expanding at a rate due to the amount of people turning their hand to market stalls to earn some money. Fortunately they had just finished building the Victorian Craft hall next to the lock and took a shine to the work. During the early 90's Totalpap were commissioned by Royal Mail to produce a Clown image for a stamp set titled the Greetings stamps. Their stamp was used to promote the set across the uk. Since then Totalpap have been involved with many exhibitions including some marvellous automata shows alongside notable makers."

"Living in the wonderful county of Yorkshire I am passionate about our beautiful countryside, rugged coastline, historic cities and working fishing villages, which all have their own individual charm and give endless inspiration to an artist. I have always been drawn to the sea and love to paint it with the fluid, often unpredictable qualities of watercolour and inks on paper. I also enjoy creating using big brushes and the colourful opaque effects of acrylic paint on wood, capturing marine life and other animals in my unique style. Exploring with colour and bold mark making, I work in a semi-abstract naive style, capturing the landscape, wildlife and other aspects of the inspirational natural world. I love to create art which makes people smile, adding a splash of colour and brightness to everyday life."

"Karl Bielik lives and works in London. His paintings have been in numerous shows at home and abroad, including The John Moores Painting Prize, The RA Summer Show, WAC Art Contemporary, The BEEP Painting Prize, The Marmite Prize and The London Open. He is a member of Contemporary British Painting and is the Founder and Director of Terrace Gallery in London. Bielik also writes and performs in Lark who are signed to Standard Lamp Records."

"Kate Madden is fascinated by the human form and its relationship with itself and the objects around it. She loves watching parkour. Her work tends to be three-dimensional disruptions of discarded vintage items, often examining aspects of power. Kate has an MA from the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham where she created and curated the Museum of Post-apocalyptic Evolution. She currently owns and manages Aching Fox Deviations, an etsy shop specialising in art and the repurposing of antiques. "

"Kate McCrickard is an artist and writer based in Paris, France. She graduated with a first-class Honours Degree in Fine Art from Edinburgh University in 1998 and after a career working in various corners of the art world, is now back to painting full-time. She is represented by Art First Gallery in London and Mingdian Gallery in Tai Pei. Her work is held in the collections of: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The New York Public Library; The British Museum; Los Angeles County Museum; The Davison Art Centre (Wesleyan University, Connecticut); and The Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh)."

"I am Kellie Ahl, an Intuitive Expressionist Artist & Creative Guide. I specialise in teaching my painting process to anyone who is curious by facilitating Workshops, 1:1s and leading my transformational Creative Women?s Circles. In addition to my personal work, I also paint live at events and create powerful personal pieces of commissioned art to put the stamp of your soul in your home. "

"Kitten Von Mew is a well known vintage singer, gracing the stages of WW2 events across the country. What you may not know, is that she also uses art as therapy and enjoys nothing more than to sit down and draw fantastical nonsense for her own amusement."

"Lee?s contemporary abstract paintings are colourful, textured and full of movement. Aiming to change the perception of somewhat dated subjects and injecting them with an urban twist. He allows bold, intuitive marks to clash and merge in perfect harmony. Viewers are invited to explore negative spaces and eye-popping shades of colour. He uses sprays, markers and acrylic paints to create layers of textured backdrops. Areas are manipulated to reveal hidden chinks of buried colour.? Each painting evolves in a free-flowing spontaneous, process with each mark influencing the next. Non-traditional tools (knives, trowels and scrapers) allow for a loose and energetic application. The abstract and expressional are expertly balanced?Splashes of neon spray and blobs of pastel are ever present.? Textures pop from the surface exploring a new era of painting."

"Lesley has exhibited with several major societies including - The Royal Society of Marine Artists 2009/10/12-17/19-22 The Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2011/12/14 Royal Society of British Artists 2013 Society of Women Artists 2011/12. Lesley works exclusively in oil. She enjoys painting coastal marine scenes & intimate townscapes. Lesley works both en plein air & in her studio, and is a regular attendee at life drawing."

"Lesley is a UK based artist exploring how we fit in as individuals and interact with society in our ever-changing urban environments. Through painting, Lesley aims to evoke all the feelings, emotions and experiences we commonly share in our lives. Inspiration and ideas for Lesley's work evolve from events seen in the media, traveling and seeing people's lives and society in general that evoke strong emotional responses to the artist. Her perceptive observations of human behaviour together with her own personal experiences, enhance the emotive narratives of her paintings and often communicate a common sense of displacement, a question of belonging and our purpose in life. Lesley has been painting full time for 10 years and during that period has already accomplished an Invited Artist Residency in China 2013, received Runner-up in Winter Pride Art Awards London 2014, Peoples Choice Award, Bath Art Open 2018, finalist in Hollybush Art Awards(WIA) London 2021, selected six times to exhibit with Flux, London and been featured in various publications, album and book covers. She has exhibited in London, Zurich, New York, New Delhi, Florence, Paris, Stockholm, Bratislava and China, and has work in private/corporate collections worldwide.""

"Lily Hargreaves was born in Reading, 2000, and is now based in London. She completed her Foundation Diploma in Fine Art at Central St. Martins in 2019 with distinction and recently achieved a first class BA with honours in the same subject from Goldsmiths, University of London. Lily Hargreaves paints scenes from an alternate timeline, acting as its historian as she documents the happenings of Willowfield village and its residents. Her canvases invite viewers out of their world and into one that parodies, probes, and pulls at the seams of the former's contemporary institutions. By constructing a world of intense detail, Hargreaves exploits the omnipotence of the artist, mapping her characters? reactions as they negotiate warps in seemingly fixed ideas like time and reality to discover new, unburdened modes of existence. Although contemporary in its concerns, her imagery is often historically inclined, playing with ideas of linearity and cyclicism as threads of past, present, and future entangle. This allows for an expanded and experimental approach to storytelling, with characters and places appearing and reappearing through different tangents of what could be a never-ending series."

"Lisa Robinson's work reconfigures and transforms the habitats she occupies, appropriating and translating these spaces into paint. A metamorphism takes place, changing the source material from recognisable forms into something less nameable. The interior, urban spaces, film and architectural details are often used as starting points. The paintings develop in progress, responding to each mark made with the end result being unpredictable. The work remains untitled, to allow the viewer to freely translate the relationship of the forms and gestures. Lisa studied at Manchester School of Art and has recently completed a year on the Turps Correspondence Course. Her work has been exhibited nationally and has been shortlisted for the New Lights Art Prize, ING Discerning Eye Prize and she was a recipient of The Joan Day Painting Bursary."

"Lloyd Durling is a British artist working in London. His practice is painting-based and he received his first international solo show in 2010 at Golden, Chicago. He has exhibited widely throughout Europe, Asia and U.S.A, and in 2017 was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. Works are held in both public and private collections worldwide; Whitworth Art Gallery and Museum, Progressive collection, America and Nomura Bank, Japan. "

"Born in Gunzburg, Bavaria in 1963, Gotz, who lives in London and Berlin, is Associate Professor in Fine Art at Sunderland University and has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. A British Council Rome scholar in 2010, he studied at the Fachhochschule in Aachen; Universitat Wuppertal; Kunstakademie D?sseldorf and the Royal College of Art, London. Solo exhibitions have included at Gasworks Gallery and Chisenhale Gallery in London; Petra Rinck Gallery in Dusseldorf; Domobaal in London; David Risley Gallery in Copenhagen and most recently at the Hatton Gallery in Newcastle (2019). Public site-specific installations have including at Piccadilly Underground Station in London (2007); at the Miro Foundation in Barcelona (2010); Love Festival, Southbank Centre, London (2014); Pallant House Gallery, Chichester (2016); Leeds Art Gallery (2017); MIMA, Middlesbrough (2019) and the Towner, Eastbourne (2019). "

"Lucia Hardy is an artist from Harold Wood, Essex, painting expressive and dynamic birds, wildlife and wild British landscapes. Inspired by nature?s strength and resilience, her paintings explore the connecting struggle we share with nature to balance the darkness and joy of life. Painting in textural acrylics in a contemporary, semi-abstract style, her process involves following trails of inspiration to explore ideas. She spends time sketching and painting en plein air, writing and using music to inhabit key themes. Her painting moves between instinctive, physical mark making and creating depth with layers of colour, texture and form.Lucia is a member of Colchester Art Society, the Brentwood Art Trail and has works with galleries in Essex, Suffolk and online. She has exhibited at the Oxo Tower Bargehouse and Truman Brewery, London with Roy?s Art Fair and is a has undertaken a range of projects and exhibitions, including live painting demo?s, with the Essex Wildlife Trust, Thames Chase Nature Reserve and the London Wetland Centre. Lucia featured on Sky Art?s ?Sky Landscape Artist of the Year? programme in January 2023, as the heat Wildcard Winner at Royal Ascot?s picnic area."

" Lynda Minter is well known for her paintings of London, and along the coast of the British Isles. She studied at St Martin's School of Art 1980-1983 BA Hons in Fine Art. For Lynda painting is about sharing her love of nature and giving people a different way of seeing the World in a new and imaginative way. Lynda enjoys engaging with the people with her own unique language, speaking directly in an expressive figurative style. Celebrating life through paint. Lynda has had work exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The Discerning Eye, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Art For Youth, Henley Royal Regatta, New English Arts Club, Mall Galleries, Russell Gallery, Aylesbury Museum, Buckinghamshire, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nassau Bahamas, Belgravia Gallery two man show, Thompson's Gallery, Chelsea Art Society, Royal Society of British Artist's, Christie's wine Trade Art Society - Painter Stainer's prize. Solo Shows : River And Rowing Museum, Wellington Barracks, Winchester College, The Arts Club Dover Street, Chelsea Arts Club, Gallery Tresco, Piers Feetham Gallery, Aldous Fine Art Prizes and commendations'; Christies' Wine Trade Art Society - Painter Stainer's Prize, Chelsea Art Society - High Commendation Collections; at Gonville Hotel, Cambridge, River and Rowing Museum, Tresco Estate. Testimonials Mark Aldridge Patron, The Prince's Foundation We have several paintings of Lynda's incredible work. We get so much enjoyment seeing how they change colour throughout the day and seasons. Many of our friends have commented on them too. We've been following Lynda's career over the years and have recently purchased 'a view from Putney Bridge' to add to our collection of her work. Professor Ken Howard OBE Painting is about the hand the heart and the head' and that's what you get when you see one of Lynda Minter's paintings. William Packer -Financial Times Art critic A natural painter, her handling of paint rich and free on the surface, and impressively sure in its scope and sweep. Lucy Dorrien Smith , Tresco AbbeyI am standing in from of one of the loveliest seascapes in our collection on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly. I am looking in awe at the colour, intensity of light, wild open skies, exciting, dramatic effects of the paint on canvas and I am thinking that this was created by a truly talented artist. Lynda has such intuitive understanding of our island world. "

"Born in Paris 1995, and based in London, Ma?a works between London and Sicily. She studied at the Chelsea College of Arts (BA Fine Art) in 2017 and the Royal College of Art (MA Painting) in 2019. The artist has since shown both in London and internationally. "

"Mandy Payne is painter/ printmaker based in Sheffield. Her work is inspired by urban landscape, particularly Brutalist architecture, social housing, and gentrification. Interested in finding beauty in the everyday, she works with materials that have a physical connection to the sites she depicts, namely concrete and spray paint. Payne has shown in exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the John Moores Painting Prize three times and was a Prize Winner in 2014. She has exhibited at The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on seven occasions and was the recipient of the Valeria Sykes Award in the New Light Art Prize in 2015. Her work is held in public and private collections worldwide including five paintings recently acquired for The Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth. "

"Marc Standing's ethereal and abstract practice is heavily inspired by his personal life experiences, displaying a visual expression of his personal search for identity as well as the complexities felt by mass consciousness. Heavily influenced by both the natural world and his lived societal experiences, his works have the feeling of both mental nodes of thought as well as organic cellular systems in constant flux. Born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, Standing spent his formative years in Southern Africa, studying Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town, where he graduated with honors. Standing then spent over a decade living and working across Australia and Asia, where he participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, in Australia, China, England, the US, and Hong Kong. He is currently based out of London. "

"I am an ex Royal Navy veteran who served in the Falklands war in 1982.After struggling for a number of years with my mental health I felt I could not enjoy my life any longer and decided to seek help and was lucky to be put in touch with Combat Stress. During my first visit I was introduced to art and encouraged to paint. I assured the staff that I couldn't draw or paint. The highest mark I got for art at school was E. However with encouragement I found that I could paint. As I continued with treatment for PTSD my paintings improved and as My art improved my PTSD became more manageable. Art has given me a confidence that was lacking for so many years and enables me to escape from my harmful thoughts."

"Mary was born in London in 1972 and studied Fine Art at Norwich School of Art graduating with a Fine Art B.A. (Hons) in 1994. She has worked in Children?s Publishing for many years, illustrating children?s books and creating innovative novelty formats to educate and entertain kids. She has lived in East Anglia and on the South Coast, areas that have greatly influenced her work but travelling also provides inspiration for her landscapes. She now lives close to London and has recently decided to come back to a fine art career. Mary paints dramatic impressionist and abstract landscapes which are inspired by her love of the countryside and the many and varied places she has visited, creating the atmosphere and feeling of a place with the use of texture and light. Her love of the countryside and how it varies in form at different times of the day depending on the light, and how the contours and colours change continuously provides her inspiration. Mary sees a landscape as evocative, a place that can provide memories but where we can all interpret something different even looking at the same scene, depicting the sense of space and mood in something so vast. Mary paints in acrylics on paper, canvas or wood panel which all give their own different textures and uses various sizes of brushes to create a more abstract and spontaneous finish. Layers of additional paint create a more blended impressionist style. Each painting is intended to be viewed as if you are there and is something you can identify with, or perhaps as if we have all been there before. "

"Mary H Madden is a self-taught artist from a picturesque village in Kent who specialises in oil painting. She emigrated to South Africa and raised a multitude of animals, five children, and a husband. Her doodles matured into landscape paintings that evoke the vastness of the African veld and the intricate whimsy of the English countryside. Other works are based on memories or characters, and she has completed several commissions. She is inspired by the various paths of tranquility and the endless possibilities in colour. "

"Melanie Berman (b. Surrey, UK) lives and works in East Sussex. She graduated from the University for the Creative Arts with a BA in Painting (2008), and from Berkshire College of Art (1980) with a BA in Fashion Design. Her work is in private collections in the USA Canada France Portugal and Australia. She has been awarded various commissions including SMC Design, London. Most recently she exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy (2020, 2021, 2022) - Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, London (2019, 2021, 2022). Her work also featured in the Royal Academy Calendar 2021. She exhibited at Wells Art Contemporary Exhibition in 2021, Lido Open 2021, Beep Painting Biennial in 2022 and the Bankley Open Exhibition in 2022. Barclays Bank residency 2021-22 RHA selected 2023 The Ballinglen Art Foundation Biennial 2023"

"The work of Melvyn Evans explores the connections between the aural traditions, allegory and the folklore of the British landscape. He is fascinated by this sense of prehistory, the way it surfaces in the names of ancient places and early monuments offering comment on the mysteries of our lives, our existence and traditions. His prints rely on a balance of shapes and tones worked out through repeated drawing. He also uses textures to soften the graphic look that is so characteristic of linocuts and to impart a more painterly quality to the final image. This use of texture also introduces an element of chance, offsetting the hard-edged graphic look and fairly controlled process of cutting with steel gouges and knives. His inspiration is taken from the landscape but his interests pivot at the point at which the figurative meets the abstract. After completing a degree in illustration at Exeter College of Art and Design, Melvyn studied at Goldsmiths College London for a year, and took up drawing classes at the Royal College of Art under the tuition of Bryan Kneale RA. He has been a professional artist, printmaker and illustrator since 1992. His work has been widely exhibited including at the Royal Academy, Royal College of Art and Somerset House"

"Morrissey and Hancock are artists who share their practice. The work they produce is grid based and deploys the use of numerical systems, sequences, and rules . These rules can be broken sometimes to achieve a variety of outcomes, each one slightly different from the rest. They also run Saturation Point which is a London based project space and studio with a programme that supports and promotes systems art in the UK and internationally"

"I am a musician and artist playing drums with old punk band The Members. I went to St Martins art School and saw the first Sex Pistols gig which changed my outlook on music. I make mostly abstract collage but don?t like to limit myself to that. The collage uses advertising hoarding material and magazines as source material. I curate a peripatetic micro gallery Paste Table Gallery a mini white cube dedicated to showing analogue collage. "

"I was a carpenter and builder then in my 30s I had a chemical poisoning at work. 2 years later a heart attack. 3 heart operations later I had strokes the last was a brain stem. All the way through art kept me going. I worked with people with disabilities using art and wood work as therapy, now I use art as my therapy and it's amazing, such a help with my low mental health, such a relief. "

"Chilean-born Otto Schade is a contemporary urban Artist based in London since 2006. Schade is known for his surreal and at times abstract figurative paintings, drawings, and high-impact street art. The artist has developed a unique and recognisable graphic style involving twisting, interwoven ?ribbons? that depict his subjects. He is also known by his Orbs, sunsets and sillouetes trying to give a message to the society. Otto has been exhibiting and painting murals internationally in Europe, America, Africa and Asia in the last 13 years. "

"Born in Istanbul, ?zlem Sorlu Thompson paints in the flat where Piet Mondrian made his art studio in London. With Mondrian her influences also include the great expressionist Kandinsky and abstract surrealist Joan Mir?. ?zlem?s works have already made their way into the homes of renowned celebrities such as actress Anita Dobson&Brian May, musical theatre star Maria Friedman, actor Andy Nyman, and private collectors all around the world. She is one of seven leading artists in the UK whose designs are featured on giant fibreglass eggs for the Platinum Jubilee celebration of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022."

"Paige Denham is a print designer, influenced by colour, texture, mark making, culture and the urban world. Paige expresses her creativity through the medium of screen print. With a strong set of illustrative and collage skills Paige creates work with a strong sense of play. She hopes that her work brings joy and encouragement to be happy. "

"Drawing inspiration I gained through extensive travels and conservation work in Africa, my love of nature, botany, global culture and tradition clearly resonates through my work as a mixed media artist. Clients present me with personal memories from which I design bespoke pieces of art. Shadow and depth within my artwork are formed by an eclectic mix of silhouettes made from hand painted paper. My sculptures cleverly intertwine family memories with botanical and zoological features creating a paradisal window for interiors that preserves and treasures memories in a unique way. Through my use of paper design, my art mixes traditional and contemporary elements whilst emulating and preserving the pure beauty of the decorative style of the room. These pieces can be painted to compliment clients' interiors, providing a framed window of nature that contains a paradise within. I am currently based in rural Hampshire, where I live with my husband, daughter, an oversized Labrador and a cat that thinks she is a dog."

"Hertfordshire based artist Pauline Maddocks gained a BA Hons in Fashion and Textile Design from St Martin?s School of Art. Her career then spanned a comprehensive period within the fashion industry both as a designer and buyer with an international fashion retail company. Upon moving to the Chiltern Hills, she has rekindled her love of painting which encompasses the human form and natural landscapes, the latter taking on a semi-abstracted style of late. She works in all media, but specialises in oils and acrylic, and utilises any mark-making implement, always excited to experiment for interesting effects and narrative. For the last six years she has painted full time and has exhibited at several exhibitions. "

"Tim Greshman otherwise known as Mr Penfold works in a variety of fields and mediums, including painting, graphic design, screen printing, installations, and large-scale murals. His distinctive style is recognizable by a formulated set of conditions that he applies to his work. Skateboard graphics has had a huge influence on him, as well as classical and formal abstraction. This fusion of styles and mediums opens a magnitude of possibilities, so the artist has been commissioned by record, beverage, and software companies."

"Penny Black is a name used by artist Grace Silverwood for her more surrealist work. Penny Black's work is typically 3D, automata or clockwork. But she has now decided to paint her worlds briefly for this exhibition. "

"Peter Jones (born 1968, Birmingham, UK) studied fine art at Reading University (1988-1992) and since then has lived and worked in London. In 1996 Peter was selected for the Whitechapel Open which marked the beginning of a regular and continuing exhibition presence.?Peter held his first solo shows at FRED in London and concurrently at the sister gallery in Leipzig in 2006. The Monkey Paintings series first shown at these two exhibitions confirmed Peter's reputation as an artist and earned him an enthusiastic following. Almost all of the vintage toy subjects of these still-life paintings are collected by the artist for this purpose.Traditionally the monkey in art symbolised the primitive beast within us, and although the paintings of Peter Jones don't deny this inherent quality, they are by turns capricious, playful and vulnerable. The monkey paintings were followed by a group of lamb paintings, dog paintings and an ongoing series of various animal portraits including bunnies and birds. These particular subjects acknowledge and communicate the traditional art historical symbolism of innocence, faithfulness and love. After a hiatus of several years, the monkey series was renewed in 2016, and continues to be the artist's signature subject. "

"Born 1973 London, England - Lives and works in London UK. Education 1993 - 1996 Camberwell School of Art, London. Solo Exhibitions: 2020 House of St Barnabas, London, Gallery Sign, Reykjavik, 2017 Redoubling, Torrance Art Museum, California, 2014 Boxing Mirrors, BoetzelaerNispen, Amsterdam, 2013 A Place That Exists, Laurent Delaye Gallery, London, 2012 Parrot and Grasshopper On A Treetrunk With No Handles, BoetzelaerNispen, London, 2008 Warm Time Machine, Monika Bobinska Gallery, London, 2007 The Unemployed Prophet, CTRL Gallery, Houston, 2006 The Art of Dickies and Pollocks, Kontainer Gallery, Los Angeles.""

"Philippa Paterson paints imagined realities using family photos, images from the Internet and life models as source material. Her interest in the human condition feeds her painterly imagination. Thinly applied paint jostles with areas of impasto in her figurative works. Philippa has shown extensivley in the UK as well as New York and Singapore. Her works hangs in private collections and galleries."

"International selling British artist Rebecca Campbell lives and works in London. She trained as an illustrator and this has led to her unique, narrative style of work. Her paintings have been described as ?delightful, enigmatic and highly imaginative. They have an impeccable sense of colour and design, coupled with a touch of humour. Rebecca?s world is one of variety, eccentricity and joy.? As well as paintings, Campbell undertakes commissions including murals, illustration and design work. Her latest collaborations have been with Good Earth, India and Globetrotter. She has been showing her paintings with Jonathan Cooper, London, since 2002 as well as in the States, Mexico and Canada. Her work has been published worldwide in books, magazines and as greeting cards. Campbell has taken part in many large public art events, including with the charity Elephant Family, (she is their in-house artist and Ambassador). "

"Rebecca Tucker is a Lancashire born/London based painter, with a BA in Fine Art from Reading University 1996 and is an alumni of the Turps Banana Art School on their Off Site Programme (2022-23). Her paintings are the result of a visual 'discussion' between abstract and more representational methods of depicting subjects. Rebecca is keen to play with the viewers perception of subject and space in her paintings and then pull that preconceived idea back to the appreciation of what are essentially abstract marks on a two dimensional surface."

"The pictorial gestation and my midwifery of these artworks is a type of metaphysical work. Images evolve as transparent meets opaque, smooth meets complex, hard meets soft, and sharp meets round. They retain what was in relation to what is now, the one informing and enriching the other. As such, the past is visible in my paintings, the present is in movement and the future is always open. In terms of visual inspiration I am drawn to fleeting effects of light on surfaces, to the sky and clouds, and shadows on hills."

"Specialising in painting abstract expressionist work, my paintings have a balance and harmony that results from the handling of colour relationships, texture and vibrant brushwork, and from the careful, thoughtful, but sometimes serendipitous arrangement of colour and form. The resulting abstract image may have had its origin in remembered landscape, journey, or destination. The painting may be a response to a feeling at some time, or in some situation. My aim is to create work that appeals to our visual senses, balancing form and colour in a way that attracts the viewer's attention, and perhaps holds their gaze long enough to allow them to engage with the painted surface."

"Rosie lives on the small but beautiful Isle of Man where she was born, she gained her BA(hons) in Fine Art as a mature student through University College IOM. Her work portrays both physical and emotional responses that her Island roots bestow on her. She is intrigued by the effects of the tide, which on a daily basis changes the coastline, weathering rocks and pebbles and depositing flotsam and jetsam. Although day to day these changes are slight they have an accumulated effect. At other times change is more significant as when a storm passes through. This unfailing combination of weather and tides can be seen to reflect the marks left on us by the wear and tear of our daily lives. Rosie frequently visits her local beach on the west coast of the Island “As well as being a place where I find inspiration it's a place that feels timeless, nothing man made is visible except for an occasional passing vessel. It's a place where I like to sit and think things through, to listen to the waves on the shore and let myself be soothed while the raw edges of the day are gently worn away.” "

"Ruth?s sense of proportion, balance, harmony and colour are a reflection of her background in fashion and interior design. Painting landscapes in Oils has been a natural progression from this experience. She takes inspiration from her extensive travels and the countryside she loves, especially Northumberland and the Outer Hebrides."

"I am a figurative artist based in Perthshire, and have a love of animals, nature and creativity, and much of my work is inspired by the animals and wildlife seen on a daily basis during walks in and around my local area. I produce monochrome oil paintings, using a reductive technique where paint is removed from the canvas rather than added, with cloths and other items being tools of the trade as an alternative to brushes. The results are stronger, more dramatic , but still present a sense of warmth and calm, as animals are often depicted at restful and quiet moments. I studied Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee from 2006 - 2010 and found this satisfying technique after exploring many mediums during that time. Subject matter was initially greyhounds, having encountered an abandoned one in woods and learning of their gentle and quiet nature. Horses and donkeys were to follow, arising from employment in a horse sanctuary, and progression from there was to include local wildlife, which I have the joy and appreciation of seeing most days. Nature and creativity is very calming, and having dipped in and out of creative activity over the years, I am now focused on being a full time artist. "

"Recently I'm interested in the hero and their story. It is my experience that you will have to be your own hero. And this requires work, sometimes change and strong people. Like the squirrel from ice age chasing the nut. To be a hero is something worth chasing. "

"I spent my formative years on the north Norfolk coast, where my perception was flooded daily by the magic of water, wide skies and the perpetually changing light. My work relates to the Northern Romantic tradition, with an aspiration to create an imaginary landscape, that mirrors an inner emotive reality. Imaginary landscapes inspire us to expand our horizons, challenge our preconceptions, and embrace the boundless potential of the human imagination. They remind us that art has the power to transport us to places we have never been and to ignite the spark of creativity within us all."

"Lightplay is something that has fascinated me since I was a child. Light dancing on a lake, reflections on a raindrop captured for a moment on a leaf after the rain, or the moving shadows cast by clouds drifting over mountains in the breeze. Glass is a wonderful medium to work with, I hand cut all of my glass and use multiple kiln firings to achieve the look and textures that I am after.I am a great believer that getting out into nature is good for the soul, with my work I try to bring some of the outdoors indoors hopefully bringing a little of that beauty and light with it."

"As well as working for Combat Stress, Currently half way through MA Fine Art at Falmouth University. Shad's work combines traditional landscape painting with abstract dreamscapes, figure and memories."

"A Cambridgeshire based outsider artist Sharon Bennett is passionate about art that is vibrant and striking. Using a range of medium and techniques, Sharon has an artistic style that is deceptively light and playful with darker undertones and references. Sharon has exhibited in group shows in London, Ramsgate and Peterborough Cathedral. She has her debut solo show opening in June called Couturious, which explores Religion, Fashion and Passion. During 2020, her painting of a baby crow (Trevor) was chosen to be part of Grayson Perry's art club and subsequently exhibited in Manchester Art Gallery alongside many high-profile artists. Sharon is inspired by Pop Culture, Religion, Fashion and Passion. "

"Graduated from Royal College of Art in 2001, MA Painting; Middlesex University BA Hons (1st class) Fine Art; Polytechnic North London 1986 BSc Hons (2:1) Sociology. Currently resident at the Centre for Recent Drawing in London. Shown nationally and internationally. Currently showing and curator of ?Give or Take? at The Centre for Recent Drawing. Next exhibition ?Like a Slight Hiccup? in Reims, France in June. "

"I have always had the urge to draw and did so throughout my school days, eventually gaining Art and Engineering drawing A levels. After a year long Art Foundation Course at Dyfed College of Art I followed on to Technical Illustration in Swansea. The course, in the early eighties had a wide ranging skills based approach which included analytical drawing and life drawing sessions alongside the more technical disciplines. On completion, I worked as a designer/illustrator for an advertising agency and was employed as a part time lecturer in analytical drawing and later as a life drawing tutor on a Foundation course. I completed FETC and PGCE teaching qualifications. I then re-trained as a Graphic Designer gaining my BA (Hons) in 1997 and have been running my own design company for twenty-five years. In 2011 I returned to education to complete an MA in Visual Communication (Contemporary Dialogues)."

"Started painting late in life, but always knew one day I would paint. Have no art qualifications and now have my own small art gallery . I find painting so therapeutic and rewarding in so many ways."

"Steve joined the Royal Air Force Regiment at 17 and served all across the world including in Northern Ireland, Germany, Belize and the Falkland Islands. After leaving the Armed Forces in 2002, Steve joined the MoD before joining the police force a little later. He was medically discharged from the Police Force, which prompted him to contact Combat Stress. Steve was treated by Combat Stress in 2017 and undertook a range of treatment programmes including a PTSD intensive treatment programme. The art therapy sessions were really memorable for Steve. He meddled with art from an early age but never fully explored how beneficial it could be for his mental health. During the sessions, he was able to draw those ?hard to voice? feelings on paper, stop thinking and just be in the present moment. Art therapy helped Steve develop his art, donating many pieces of art for charities such as Scotty little soldiers, the British Legion, along with submitting a postcard to the Combat Stress Secret Postcard Auction. Most of Steve?s art has a sneaky pint of Guinness hidden within it, as a little reminder that he doesn?t need to drink it to feel OK. "

"I am an expatriate New Yorker, living in London for many years. I've had a long and successful career as a food writer, but something happened in 1998 (I'm still not sure what) and I stopped writing and cooking, and began drawing, painting, and building assemblages instead. It was as if a violent fever had overtaken me (a fever which still rages), made all the more mysterious by the fact that I had never done such a thing before. My work is completely untutored (as far as technique and materials are concerned, I make it up as I go along), intensely personal and involves colour, food, freedom and the female landscape. I fashion imagined Goddesses, glimpsed strangers, close friends, my personal female heroines, real and mythological - Josephine Baker, Frida Kahlo, Eve, Medusa - and self-portraits, and I adorn these powerful female images with profound symbols crafted from junk. I am deeply moved by primitive religious and tribal art of all kinds. Images and objects that have been created with passion take on immense power. I paint on paper or on found wood, with acrylics and nail varnish. Many of the works on wood are embellished with buttons, broken jewellery, toys, and other bits of profound junk (I have a deep and abiding passion for profound junk). I also build assemblages, memory jugs and neck shrines out of my vast hordes of detritus. Half my time is spent obsessively trawling for junk, and the other half, obsessively putting it all together. At this time I'm creating for the sheer visceral joy of it. The enormous impact it has had on my life has turned me into another person entirely. "

"My style has been called ?iconoclastic? since my painting is a process of making and unmaking, of construction and defacement. I paint people in urban or natural wilderness where not only is the setting challenging in its bleakness or ferocity, but the materials of pastel, charcoal, pencil and paint assert themselves against the figures. My materials are not simply employed as servants of representation, made to depict shoppers, samurai, explorers, surgeons, riders etc., but are used to assail the people depicted with blots, spots, lines or veils. My figures are invaded by pencil marks, obscured by thin layers of oil or dissolved into acrylic fluidity, with the result that they are transformed into hybrids who seem either fragile or predatory. My ?alchemical? process of making and unmaking leads to remaking, to the creation of uncertain and enigmatic images hovering between abstraction and figuration and between human and non-human, as if the human is always vulnerable to being transformed, turned into a shape, a cell, a cyborg, monster, insect, ghost or yeti. My work is overwhelmingly inspired by the idea of transformation, with figures and their settings continually undergoing mutation."

"I have been painting from memories for some years now, and previously drew and painted by observation. Sometimes the image is less figurative and more abstract but hopefully all have an emotional content. "

"Art Therapy has been instrumental in my journey as an artist. I now enjoy multiple areas of art from portraits to Landscapes and still life. I am looking to focus on oils and hope for people to want and like my paintings. I am an Ambassador for Outside In. And have been teaching Art on zoom to other veterans with SAA. "

"I am a painter living and working in London. Though the content of my work is varied, covering formal abstraction, text and latterly stylised figuration, all subjects are gathered under the banner of painting, a medium and behaviour to which I am profoundly drawn. My practice is rooted in a materialist love of the substance of paint and the objects resulting from its employment, and an instinctive need to indulge in the act of painting. My paintings may be considered products of necessity and desire, fulfilling a base, fundamental creative need and delighting in raw physicality. I openly employ painting as a means to improve my experience of living. The honest truth is that I need it in order to be happy. At the beginning of 2020 I made the decision to leave my three representative galleries and remove my work from the established commercial art industry and its constrictive prescription entirely. In its place I initiated Painting Pro Bono, a project through which I sell my paintings cheaply and donate 50% of all proceeds to charity. They initiative is an attempt to derive some social benefit from my practice and its success in doing so has proven far more fulfilling than any of the traditional alternatives I have attempted in the past."

"I am Tracy Charlotte Power, 42 from Hertfordshire. I have been creating art since I can remember. It was always my hobby and a love to draw and paint. My career as a production manager in the film industry came to end after being diagnosed with end stage kidney disease. I underwent kidney and pancreas transplant in 2018 It was during my recovery I decided that I wanted to take a leap of faith and become a full time artist. I trained by practising every method and technique I could learn about using nothing but books, the internet and advice from other artists. A year later I owned my own art studio, a gallery residency and was selling my artwork successfully. Today I have my works showing in several galleries, Manor Houses, homes and public spaces. "

"My current work explores the anthropocene and the implications of humanity?s interventions on the natural world. The architecture of land, sky and sea draws me into the deep contemplation of the vastness of the universe and our place in time. I feel the weight and wonder of millennia before me and a fear for what will come. Landscape, space and light trigger a showreel of emotion: joy, sadness, yearning, awe and loss that are explored across my subjects. I live in Cambridge, UK and I am fascinated by the strange and beautiful landscapes that were created and transformed by drainage of the land and it?s subsequent intensive farming in East Anglia. Traces from the past remain: the ploughed fields are host to ghostly remnants of rivers, ancient water ways and silty deposits. Here lies a rich story buried within the land ? or perhaps it is the legacy of what may come to be once again. Water is a both a metaphor and a source of life within my work. I explore viscosity, translucency, and fluidity of my mediums and often add texture from site-specific material to my surfaces. I work from initial sketches and photographs en plein air, then develop them in my studio, working at speed to capture the light and the feeling that ?a sense of a place? gives me, often on several pieces simultaneously. My work is an expression of what I feel, not a literal representation. I want my viewers to feel the energy of an environment and to contemplate our relationship with the natural world."

"born Karachi, Pakistan. Lives and works in London, Berlin and Karachi. Uzma received her MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1999.Recent solo shows include Life Room at Koel in 2011 in Karachi and Mishmash in 2012 at Rohtas 2 in Lahore. Since graduating from the Slade School of Fine Art has been in several shows to name a few: the 2005 Mostyn Open, Llandudno, Wales, won the 2006 Fine Art Prize at the Inspired Art Fair in London judged by Marcus Harvey and was shortlisted for John Moores Painting Prize, Liverpool in 2008."

"Vanessa Gardiner was born in Oxford in 1960 and studied first at Oxford Polytechnic from1978 -79 and then at Central School of Art & Design in London from 1979 - 1982. Since graduating, her work has been consistently shown in solo exhibitions at galleries in London and regularly throughout the UK. Her paintings are held in public and corporate collections and privately worldwide."

"In her paintings and performances, Vanessa Mitter is interested in interrogating the history, particularly, of Expressionist painting and of the gesture. The making is very physical. The canvas is moved around, laid on the floor, then the wall, often remade or scored over, obliterated and then painted over again. Often, paintings are buried underneath other paintings. There is a narrative being referenced, but it is often hidden and autobiographical. Mitter uses layers of paint and collage, overlaid then with pen and oil stick. The making is instinctive and accident driven, often teetering on the edge of what she believes is abject failure. This tightrope is important. The painting has its own life, leads the way. Mitter views this as a process of alchemy; a transformative process. "

"Vic Kitchingman is a British artist living and working in South London. With a background in illustration and animation, her interest switched in recent years to painting. Working predominantly in oils, charcoal, and with printing techniques she focuses largely on figurative works exploring her identity as a mother, and on capturing the female form."

"Zoe is a veteran of the RAF and is the wife of Mr Steve Carroll (ex RAF Regiment) Zoe saw that Steve had entered the auction and wanted to also help. She is nearly as good as Steve!! "