Painter
Jim Lowe is a British abstract painter. Born in Bath in 1943, he attended King’s College School, Wimbledon, where his talent for drawing and painting were immediately recognised. He studied at Kingston School of Art (1960-64) and continued at the Royal Academy Schools (1964-67), where his tutors included Bryan Kneale, William Scott and Edward Bawden. Early influences included Matisse, Klee, and the formal abstraction theories of Josef Albers. Another important influence was the New Generation sculpture movement of the 1960s, inspired by Sir Anthony Caro and involving fabricated sculptures with areas of flat colour. In 1967, his painting Nineteen was awarded the Peter Stuyvesant Prize and the Arts Council Prize. Throughout his career, Lowe’s work has been characterised by the use of bright colours and abstract forms. The objective is always to make something exciting; to affect the viewer by setting up unexpected combinations and tensions that can be resolved in different ways.
Former Studio Holders
Crafter, Painter, Textiles
Lauren’s practice couples the joy of creative learning with the discipline of laboriously constructed artworks. The desire to learn new crafts has led to multiple mediums in her practice; from stained-glass, pottery and painting to tapestry weaving, textiles and collage.
The extensive and time-consuming production of her work is symptomatic of monotony of everyday life, and the works often have tongue in cheek references to society, common-culture and the ordinary. But as the artwork finally comes together it can't help but reflect our humanity with an ironically bright optimism.
Art Educator, Ceramicist, Director of Pause for Creativity- Artist Led Workshops and Retreats.
I have always been interested in nature’s forms and shapes. As a child, fascinated by found objects, I collected shells, leaves, insects and mosses. I still find myself drawn to their colours, shapes and textures. When working with clay I feel connected to the earth and the plasticity of the clay allows me to endlessly reinvent and recreate the natural world in my work. Porcelain and bone china are my preferred clays because of their pure white brilliance and smoothness to the touch once fired.
Living in Sitges, Spain foreight years rekindled my love of the sea and particularly the joy of scanning the shoreline for found objects. Recently my travels to Puerto Rico, the Maldives and Florida have led to my series of underground sea beds and coral forms.
Drawing, Painting, Printmaking
Through the lens of autobiography and personal archiving, Pozniakow is examining her first experiences of domesticity. She responds to the conflicting social values demonstrated by her mother and grandmother's relationship through a dynamic visual language. Her work often examines her migrant grandmother’s adoption of British middle class values and her mother’s break from this tradition due to her opposing femininity ideology. With the use of family photographs and various pieces of personal family ephemera, she is developing a collection of paintings which are deeply nostalgic and intimate in nature.
Darkroom Printer, Photography
I am a self-taught fine art photographer. I try to create images which capture the essence of a particular object, whether it is natural or manmade: its “thisness”, that which makes it unique rather than that which makes it universal. I use traditional film and darkroom techniques, close observation and light.
