Louise Collis:  Artist Statement

Planning and painting for this exhibition started in Summer last year and the focus was to be my plein air paintings with lots of painting trips planned to Pembrokeshire, Brecon Beacons, Devon and Cornwall.  My absolute joy is painting outdoors in front of the view, soaking up the atmosphere and trying to portray that in my paintings.  Halfway into the collection, lockdown happened.

In March with half the paintings done I had to quickly change my way of working.  I closed my studio, my painting trips were cancelled and I started working from home so now half of the collection is made of lockdown studio (kitchen table) paintings.  As much as plein air painting is my passion, I’ve used this unexpected change to refine my craft and try to improve my painting skills by painting every day, sometimes all day.  I feel that I’ve leant a lot and I’m now looking forward to getting back outdoors with my pochade box.

There are 138 unframed paintings on display all 8” x 6” oil on board.  Alongside are some larger works.  The exhibition continues until 3 October 2020.

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