Watercolour artist and illustrator
Does anyone else buy books just for the pictures? That's what I have been doing for many years, specifically books containing the illustrations of my favourite artists and illustrators. Those that inspire me. Arthur Rackham, Charles Robinson, Walter Crane, Edmund Dulac, Beatrix Potter, Brian Froud and J R Tolkien to name but a few.
As a child I loved book illustrations, comic books and animation and thought about becoming an illustrator myself. Then my head was turned by film and theatre, and I trained to be a set and costume designer instead at Central School of Speech and Drama.
Years later I was now collecting antique books, and still worshipping their illustrators, while my career in film and theatre never took off. I ended up going full circle and revisited my love of illustration. After I lost my job during 2020 I made a decision to explore that side of me once again, and when my mental health declined I found it to be my solace.
I took subsidised classes at the W.E.A and was taught fine art and watercolour by two practising artists: Karen Davies and Deborah Crofts. The former taught me everything about fine art painting, especially landscapes, and the latter demystified watercolours for me.
For several years I have also become fascinated in nature, and am an active supporter of protecting the environment. I find myself drawn to patterns and shapes, unusual details that require looking at nature up close and how nature is beautiful even when it is oddly shaped or dormant in the winter.
Last year I was diagnosed with ADHD and everything made sense. For years I was considered a classic Gemini, a jack of all trades, flighty and imaginative with my head in the clouds. Well, despite having a lot of hobbies and sometimes forgetting one thing so I can move into another, one thing that has stuck with me all these years is my love of drawing and telling stories.
Right now I am fixating on wildlife and nature, trees and fairytale woodland.
Find Seven Maples Art & Illustration on social media