Tor Townsend

Tor Townsend left art school in the late 60's and has been painting ever since. Her medium, until fairly recently, was traditional water colours, and as she had studied architecture, building have always appealed - whether grand cathedrals or humble fishing villages. Recently she has 'loosened' her style using mixed media, with aid of tissue paper, ink, etc. She is still drawn to architectural subjects but with fewer restraints, and lots of colour and design. Tor lives and works in Taunton, and has exhibited successfully in several local exhibitions.

Charles Hallsworth

Charles Hallsworth is a full-time professional artist and photographer with a studio in Bridport, Dorset, UK. His images are from observation recorded by sketches and photographs. The style reflects the source of the image and his perception of the moment. The development of an image relies on the interaction of paint on the canvas and a very personal interpretation of the final work. His pictures are noted for their brightness, air of optimism and celebration of life. He paints mainly in oils on canvas and sometimes board. The canvases are usually stretched and prepared by himself by hand using high quality materials. Life studies are usually in charcoal on paper and sometimes with added pastel.

Claire Western

Claire Western’s increasingly sought-after paintings represent deep emotional responses to the land and seascapes of the southwest. She works on a ground of Gesso building layers of paint, paper, sand, metal leaf, glazes and pastel, often scraping back and drawing into the surfaces. Claire has spent her life painting and teaching art. She is always looking for new ways of interpreting her subjects. By inspiring students and encouraging them to be both imaginative and adventurous it has enriched her own artistic output.

Pat Board

Patricia Board was born in Ulverston, Cumbria in 1956 but now lives and works in Somerset. Whilst at college she discovered a love for colour and texture, but also for the surrounding landscape, in particular the south west coastline. Combining the two became her ideal and experimenting with watercolour made that possible. The north Cornish coastline is a favourite subject along with areas such as The Cobb and harbour at Lyme Regis as they have such timeless qualities. Her work is on show at various galleries in Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset and she also holds at least one solo exhibition every year.

Stephen Quick

Stephen Quick was born in Honiton and trained in Bristol. Since leaving university he has set up the art and film studio “Splintered Studios” based in Devon. He is an internationally collected artist. His approach is basically an art gag; a post modern take on post modern ideals taking overused cultural images and giving them a new lease of life. They are not at all about themselves, but about the world outside the Art world, overtly borrowing techniques and styles from the history of art. He believes that the only way you know where something is going is if you know where it has been.

Martin Maxim

Martin Maxim has been interested in painting and especially drawing for as long as he can remember. His initial training at art school consisted of a four year fine art course, after which he spent many years in the commercial art world working as an illustrator. In 1986 he moved from the South East of England to Devon and the Dartmoor National Park, continuing with commercial work, but spending more time on his own paintings. Light, shadow, pattern and colour, combine to create for him an irresistible challenge which he attempts to capture in watercolour, a medium he loves. From the application of large wet washes of colour, to fine and detailed work, the whole process he finds fascinating and sometimes unpredictable.

Michael Bailey

Michael Bailey has lived and worked in the West Country for the past 35 years. Following his retirement from his civil engineering career, he returned to study and obtained an Honours Degree in Fine Art at the University of the West of England. Since then his artistic endeavours have been split between painting, drawing and ceramic work. His current ceramic project has been the making of the ‘mysterious’ hare using ‘paper clay’. This material differs from other clays and its unique properties have enabled Michael to combine his engineering and artistic skills to create sculptures where both the armature and the surface shape are made of clay. The result is a series of highly individual animal forms

Claire Hooper

Claire Hooper was born in the West Country and gained her first degree in 1978. She taught in London before moving to Switzerland where she lived until 1994. During this time she travelled extensively in Europe, Asia and America extending her passion for working with colours in different art forms and evolved her own particular style of creating exciting and dynamic expressions of her infectious energy on large canvases. Claire’s unique art form represents her sparkling and effervescent approach to life. She paints with the confidence of a ‘free spirit’, her ‘still life’ flowers are anything but still, and all are full of optimism and colour.

Caroline Crunden

Caroline Crunden has always been a painter of landscape and has a strong identification with its elements, its natural depth and beauty. The ever changing mood of the landscape is the inspiration behind much of what she paints.

She interprets the elements of the landscape itself rather than endeavouring to produce a physical representation. The paint is her primary concern as she responds to the colour, light and space surrounding her. She works in oils on canvas and watercolour finding both these media totally absorbing in the way they can be applied, changed and extended. Caroline uses a limited palette preferring to mix her own colours and often works with a very fluid paint. She delights in the use of both colour and line – exploring the subtleties of both in all their forms and applications.

Jane Burt

Jane Burt studied at Plymouth College of Art and Design and has exhibited throughout the South West, South Wales and Brittany. Her work is held in both private and public collections. Her work depicts the human form and is strong, lively and humorous. She strives to find narrative in her work - some political content is evident yet above all the result has to have aesthetic appeal. Jane creates installation work and paints semi-abstract canvases in oils or mixed media. Her landscape and seascape works are broadly appealing, mixing identifiable elements and abstract features that lend the work an original slant. She aims to combine all these aspects with a sensitive approach to colour and texture, producing work which is exciting, surprising and enduring.

Andrea Bray

Andrea Bray was born in Devon and progressed to teachers' college in London where Art was her main subject. She lived in Australia for several years where she was influenced by the light and the landscape. Her background has given her a very strong and confident command of colour and form which she expresses in oils using a palette knife. On retiring from teaching, Andrea returned to her first love of painting and has participated in several exhibitions including an international one in France. She has recently been inspired by the natural beauty and an element of mystery in the garden at Greenway, Agatha Christie's former estate in Galmpton.

T. J. Butler

T. J. Butler trained as an illustrator and Graphics Designer and has exhibited her paintings at various venues for many years. She then studied to be a teacher and for ten years was Head of an Art Department. She continues to teach part-time and to Coordinate Art and Design but has recently rediscovered her passion for painting. Her love of the West Country and its coastline endlessly inspires her.

Linda Hampson

Linda Hampson works primarily in pastel and the more unusual medium of oil based coloured pencil. She has no formal training but has worked hard at developing her natural ability. She enjoys producing art work of birds, botanicals and some wildlife. She is also regularly commissioned to portraits of pets and horses and her art hangs in many private collections around the world. Linda has exhibited at the prestigious Kirstenbosch Biennale Exhibition of Botanical Art since 2002. In 2012 she was offered Associate membership of the Society of Botanical Artists, UK. In South Africa, Linda was a sought-after teacher for he medium of coloured pencil and travelled countrywide giving workshops as well as regular lessons at home. Now that she is living in England, these are occupations she hopes to continue.

Featured Artists

Oil Painters, Watercolourists, Sculptors and Ceramicists