Landscape painting in Cornwall, Andrew Barrowman paints en plein air and in the studio using oils as his chosen medium. He tries to convey the feeling and atmosphere of a landscape onto canvas for the viewer to have an idea of what it was like to be there.

His paintings often start with ideas found whilst walking his dog. He usually carries a small sketch book with him, making quick sketches and colour notes. These will sometimes be developed into paintings.

Marc was born in Southwold in 1968, on the northern edge of town that borders Easton Marshes, just a short walk from the sea.

He was a foreman brick-maker at a traditional brickworks at South Cove for three years before attending Lowestoft Art School (1990-92) and Manchester Metropolitan University (1992-95). After graduating in 1995 Marc began to produce drawings and paintings in mixed media for exhibiting. He then continued the theme of his Degree Show which was a portrayal of the East Anglian coastline, including parts of his family history and its relationship with the sea through several generations. In 2003 Marc gave up his part-time post at Lowestoft College to further his painting career.

'Working in mixed media my current paintings are a direct response to my interest in unusual compositions and viewpoints and the placement of sometimes ordinary objects and buildings within them. I often explore the juxtaposition of large open skies with strands of finely detailed horizons which epitomizes the ancient and ever changing East Anglian landscape of sea and salt-marsh'.

Brighton-based artist Emma Brownjohn, born 1969, received a first class degree from Camberwell College of Arts.

'Often there are no defining features in my work. I want them to be as universal as possible. Ideally I'd like the viewer to experience my world but also be transported to any city, sea, forest or field and enter their own realm of colour, memory, reality or dream.

  My inspiration stems from many different sources- It could be some red berries on a white winter's day, or orange leaves falling in autumn, a flourescent jacket glimpsed amid the grey of the city or a turquoise boat sailing on a green sea. I like to paint the magic of the changing seasons with all the colours and shapes they bring, busy cities brimming with people and architectural variety, a beach dotted with the colours of summer, or the patterns and compositions described by the trees and fields in the countryside. I want to show how vast and diverse our planet is'.

Denise lives in a  part of rural Hampshire close to the sea. Her inspiration comes from an overwhelming love of the countryside, including the beautiful  'South Downs'  and the nearby coast and all the flora and fauna that live there.
 
Denise has always loved walking, sketching, painting on the beach - there is just something about the light there and the sound of the sea. 

She has always enjoyed painting and drawing animals/birds and enjoy capturing their spirit as well as a likeness.

Denise trained in Natural History Illustration at the Dyfed College of Art in Wales  (1988-90). She went on to illustrate a variety of books and was with the SGA Illustration Agency for a number of years.

Nicky originally trained as a designer, graduating from Central St Martin's School of Art in 1993 with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design with a specialism in printed textiles. After working in various areas of the fashion & textile design industry, a career break to raise my four children led her to rediscover the excitement of drawing & painting. 

Nicky's flower paintings are an attempt to capture the burst of happiness that she always feels on finding an unexpected patch of wildflowers, or when a breeze sends a meadow dancing. Nicky is particularly inspired by the vivacious wildflowers, hardy heathland plants and big skies she sees in the countryside around her home, and the powerful feeling of permanence and belonging that watching a familiar landscape through changing seasons can bring. She is also strongly influenced by memories of the flowers that her Grandad grew in his garden when she was a child, and the naive shapes that she often uses are representative of this.

Nicky also enjoys the immediacy of life drawing, usually working in layers of collage and mixed media on paper, or on canvas when time allows. Her focus is on colour and atmosphere, concentrating on the play of warm and cold shadows across the body.

Lesley Dyason is a mixed media artist working mainly in watercolour, ink and collage.
She studied textiles and embroidery in Exeter before moving to Melton Mowbray in 2002. In 2010, she turned to painting and is mainly self-taught.

Lesley has rapidly developed an individual and recognisable style.
The main sources of inspiration are flowers, seeds, landscapes and trees painted in a loose representation of the real thing. Watercolour is the main medium, added to with pen and ink, pastel and sometimes collage.

Lesley's textile training often shows in the finished work, backgrounds to flowers and trees can be very textured and stitch-like.

Polly is a self-taught papercut artist and has been working in this medium for several years now – she has also flirted with stained glass, etching and lithography but Polly prefers papercutting.

'The challenge of telling a story with the paper whilst keeping it all in one piece is both exciting and magical, and it's so rewarding to lift a completed papercut from the cutting mat – like an intricate piece of lace.

 I was ten when my grandmother gave me some Chinese papercut horses – beautifully delicate designs cut from fragile rice paper. Amazingly, I have them still and in one way they could be credited as being the inspiration for my pr esent work'.

Polly has been fascinated by paper since childhood – when her '70s collection of Snoopy stickers gradually amassed to a huge stock of all things paper – origami, handmade papers, notebooks, wrapping paper. Polly loves everything about paper – the feel of it, the huge variety of textures and colours – the boundless potential of the medium – and so far she feels that she is only just scratching the very surface.

'Each papercut begins from an idea of a narrative. Influences come from all around me – things I see and hear, books and TV. My sketchbook is a constant companion – filled with doodled ideas, sketches, words and phrases.

  I might draw something which will spark an idea – and this develops in my sketch book and in my imagination until it is formed enough to begin a papercut. I then freehand draw the image full size and start cutting – although even then the story can still evolve and change whilst I marry it into the structure of the papercut until it is fully formed'.

All of Polly's papercuts are unique. She does have themes that may reoccur but every papercut is an original one-off that tells its own story.  Polly sees it in her mind's eye as one narrative – but each interpretation is up to you – the viewer.

Lyz Gardner is a landscape Artist specializing in Oil Pastels. 

'Oil pastels offer me the freedom to be spontaneous - I prefer to work with my hands rather than with a brush. I enjoy building up many layers of the medium, creating texture, which is then etched into with a palette knife or pencil. This process and technique is what defines my work. I love this constant cycle of removal and addition of layers until the effect I want is achieved.

I prefer to paint primarily from memory/imagination and I hope the pieces I produce resonate with the experiences and moments of special places the viewer may have'.

After a degree in Visual Arts from the University of Lancaster Lyz travelled widely throughout the British Isles. It is the knowledge of these coasts, woods and dales that she draws upon in her work.

Lyz then completed a PGCE and embarked on a teaching career before settling in East Anglia to focus exclusively on painting again.

Lisa studied at Bradford & Ilkley Community College and graduated in 1995 with a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art & Experimental Textiles.
he returned back to the Northeast and began producing beautiful and original contemporary art.
Now based in County Durham she produces her paintings from her garden studio and is most recognised for her Landscape and Still Life paintings.
Lisa’s work is a vibrant combination of hue, texture and form.  Painting with a mixture of instinct, emotion and skill, she has a subtle understanding of colour and its deep impact on the viewers conscious and subconscious.
Her inspiration comes from her love of colour, texture and creating atmosphere and balance. Using natural found materials from the location Lisa encases them into the painting surface. Her aim is to create an authentic representation of what she loves most about the landscape.
Through her still life range she explores contrasting colours and vintage fabrics to create a collection filled with character and charm..  She works on up to thirty paintings at one time in the studio, layering them with washes, wax, fabrics and organic materials, allowing the paintings to slowly evolve.
Her technique has developed over many years and the depth and harmonies she creates has become a recognisable and beautiful quality of her work.

As a child, Mary used to paint on the reverse side of wallpaper and carry them around under her arm; her enthusiasm has never dimmed and she has found herself painting more than ever.
I have a few favourite subjects, the seaside, a family growing and changing and the landscape around my home in Cambridgeshire. You could say each piece I paint is a record of some aspect of my life. The advice given to painters must surely be the same as given to writers "describe what you know".

Mary's most recent paintings are from the series Long Lost Days, part of her enduring theme of life at the seaside.

Mary trained initially as a nurse, but knew her true vocation lay in Art. She attended Salisbury School of Art for a year but is mainly self taught.

Most of her paintings are executed with oil paints. There is a sensual quality about this traditional medium that modern acrylics cannot replicate.

Until recently, Zizi didn't have a 'concept', she preferred to allow whatever it is that triggered her inspiration to emerge, in whatever form it decided to take, experimenting constantly.

But in May 2015, Zizi discovered a new way of 'seeing' the world, which she has called 'colour block'. There is a unique sense of style & simplicity, with colour as the dominant element. Her new work is vivid, yet restful, because the viewer can recognise the scene or form, through colour association....yet there is more to see, if the viewer wants to look deeper.

Morag Lloyds is a Scottish artist living and working in the countryside above the village of Doune in Perthshire.

First working as a  designer in the 1980s with Alfred Marks in London, she went on to work freelance for many years, later going on to train in Illustration and Fine Art

Morag has worked with many organizations, she loves social history and has researched and had published two local history books.She has also enjoyed working with Art in Health Care specialising in dementia projects with Artlink Central. For several years she worked as an art lecturer in community education for FVC.

Morag works mostly in acrylics and watercolours but she also loves textiles and works in soft sculpture.

Art and Creativity have always played a significant part in Karen's life.

Painting and printing has been part of my her for around 8 years; she developed this need to paint during a 3 year Arts/Therapy course based in London.

Karen now works as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor using 7 different art forms.

Karen has attended various painting and printing workshops at Hills Road College, The Curwen Studio Cambridge and The Newlyn Art School, Cornwall. She recognises that she has learnt the most from the countless hours of experimentation in her home studio, often turning night to day.

karen is drawn to water, whether it be random puddles or the enormity and complexity of the sea. Strong memories linger of times spent on visits and family holidays to Scottish shores, Norfolk and Cornwall. She loves the textures and layers of materials, often drawn to rusts and patinas. A stone or a piece of weathered wood can form the basis of many pieces of work.

The foundations and themes of the paintings and images Karen creates connect to her childhood and her personal ongoing process of discovery and change. Ships, boats, kettles and cups are metaphors representing; journeys, uncertainty, transformation, vessels of holding, storage and containment. These elements are integral to her work - the therapeutic process and the therapeutic relationship.

Karen's work is grounded and rooted in nature, but also contains elements and symbols of fantasy and the ethereal. She uses acrylics mostly and sometimes use oils, pastels, inks and rubber stamping/collage papers and textiles,  working on canvas, boards and paper. Some prints are created in a printing studio with a printing press but more often are created at home using glass, metal and gelliplate -a fascination of her as there is always a surprise, often a nice one, when the pulled print is revealed.

'I have always beendrawn to landscape and coastal scenes and the shapes and patterns found in our everyday surroundings.My work is inspired by memories, I love colour! I paint using acrylics, oil pastels, and sometimes a bit of collage. I use canvas and board to paint on, and work can vary in size. I like the idea that people can enjoy my work,as much as I do painting it!'

Tessa has always been in love with colour, and has spent her life seeing the world as a myriad of pattern and captivating images. She marvels at patches of brilliant yellow in a dramatic patchwork green landscape, and the glimpse of a violet pot against a cobalt blue wall will haunt her.

Trained in textile design, Tessa's influences have been many, from Matisse to Hodgekin and the bold colourists of mid twenty first century painters Patrick Heron and Albert Irvin.

Gardens are living paintings and have been the constant inspiration she returns to many times. Creating her own garden has been an influential process informing her current work. As the garden emerges each year, Tessa repeatedly immerses herself in the planting responding to the colour, rhythms and characteristics that excite her. The time spent drawing and painting these moments build a rich recollection of imagery to create large scale paintings and monoprints. Working with unpredictable water media and experimental printmaking process mixing direct spontaneous mark making and considered digital imagery ensures the liveliness and energy captured from direct emotional observation.

Martyn Perryman primarily works from the Portland Studios next to the woodland of Bookham Common, Surrey, as well as working from a home he has in a converted sale loft in St Ives, Cornwall.

Through the mediums of oil on canvas and oil on paper, Martyn creates seascapes and landscapes focusing on the horizon. He takes his inspiration from regular coastal walks in all weathers.

He will revisit a place, returning to the same view point making sketches and colour studies to use back in the studio.

Sue Rapley works as a painter from her home studio in Cambridge.

She explores her response to the natural landscape drawing inspiration from this ever-changing environment. With an intuitive use of colour, Sue loves to work in a variety of media to express movement, light and reflections.

Through gestural strokes of her palette knife, building layers and texture, she creates vivid images that capture the essence of being within the landscape.

To the viewer, Sue’s paintings convey a fusion of vibrant colour with a feeling of sensitivity.

Natalie Rymer trained as an Artist at Wimbledon School of Art in London studying a degree in Fine Art and Painting. She lives with her husband and two children on the borders of Kent and Sussex.

Natalie delights in painting distinctive landscapes depicting the tranquillity and beauty of the English countryside seen as blocks of colours, patterns and shapes. Her imaginative eye for colour leads her to use a warm, rich palette, and she uses numerous painting techniques to develop a variety of surface textures.

Natalie has a strong instinct for innovative design and composition invites the viewer to take a second look at scenes and subjects that seem at first to be ordinary and familiar. Her artwork is spontaneous and her recent work uses acrylic paints on canvas and it is her vivid imagination that captures the heart of the viewer.

Natalie also works with watercolour to create fresh lively paintings with an illustrative feel. Her influences which are evident in her work are Matisse, Mary Fedden, Patrick Heron, and Howard Hodgkin and her parents who are both Artists.

Coming from rural Suffolk, Stephanie was always aware of nature; it has had a profound influence on her work and can be found within the shapes and patterns. She sees plants, flowers and trees as colour and line, rather than detail in the form of leaves or petals. She is fascinated by the skeletal shapes of seed heads, of flowers as they degenerate and fade.

Her work is not about pure representation of an object, but her own vision of the object. The way in which Stephanie applies the paint, be it the thickness or the thinness of the stroke, all contributes to how she expresses emotion about a given subject, and that is what keeps her constantly excited about painting. She takes reality and fuses it with her own concept of the world.

Stephanie studied at the University of Hertfordshire and University College Suffolk, graduating with a B A Honours Degree in Art and Design.

René Viner is a mixed-media artist who draws inspiration from nature’s forms and structures. The sky, a constant changing palette, is of particular interest.

Her atmospheric paintings are semi-abstract and expressionistic capturing the openness of the countryside. She works mainly on canvas, using acrylics and various other materials which she embeds within the painting to create texture and form. This allows a play of light and shadow on the surface.