I started painting as a means of relaxation whilst holding down a very busy ‘day job’ in the NHS. I chose watercolours as a medium after being inspired by my Great Aunt who was a Watercolourist in the Yorkshire Dales. I used to spend many a happy hour browsing through her paintings and asking many a question like “how did you get that effect?”. To start me off she gave me her spare metal paint box which I still use today although the paints have been replaced many times!
My hobby started to develop when friends began asking me to paint pictures of their homes and I painted my first ‘multi-view’ picture as a wedding present for my brother showing the many views of their village. This style of painting has become very popular with my portfolio now containing many local towns such as Worcester, Pershore, Evesham and Bromsgrove
My inspiration is the beautiful buildings and scenery of Worcestershire and the Cotswolds and I like nothing better than sitting down and painting interesting buildings such as a local church or pub! and have done a number of commissions of peoples houses and cottages for them.
I generally sell my paintings at craft fairs in Worcestershire and the Cotswolds where I also sell limited edition prints of my work and items such as calendars, notecards, wedding stationary, and bookmarks all designed, printed and made by myself.
I have recently further reduced my hours at work to be able to concentrate more on my artwork and am looking forward to becoming a full time artist when I retire fully from the NHS hopefully in October this year
During Open studios I will have on display a number of my original watercolour paintings of the surrounding area and examples of commissions I have done. I will be painting / demonstrating throughout the week so if you come more than once you can see the progress I will have made! There will also be limited edition prints and cards of my work for sale.
You can see examples of my work at www.watercoloursbyrowena.co.uk or find me at a craft fair on www.craftinaction.co.uk