'My Summer Exhibition' by Gillian Durno

In this exhibition, Gillian has captured her interest in landscape, still life and seascapes through mixed media painting and collage. Gillian graduated in 1994 from Hull University with a BA Hons degree in Teaching and Art. Gillian is a local mixed media artist and celebrates her interest in colour, texture and form in this exhibition. A couple of recent visits to St Ives just before the pandemic, and last Summer have inspired some new work from Gillian. Capturing views of trees, flowers and foliage set against the backdrop of the turquoise sea of St Ives, and the beauty of Carbis Bay. An area of the country admired by artists worldwide for its unique light and extraordinary colours, such as Ben and Winifred Nicholson (RA) and Peter Lanyon. A passion for flowers also dominate her paintings. Gillian has spent time during lockdown, painting and experimenting with new media, such as waterbased oil paint, copper leaf, collage and texture. Still life painting is a genre of work Gillian is particularly interested in. Depicting everyday objects into a composition, suspended in their own space, is something Gillian has always found naturally simple and inspiring. Innocently picking a small posy of flowers from her garden, popping them in a jug and capturing that as a painting gives Gillian a great sense of achievement. Gillian paints from her studio set in her beautiful walled cottage garden in Ketton, and also her studio set in the grounds at North Luffenham Hall, Rutland. Gillian is inspired by the continual cycle of nature, and the changing landscape through the seasons. Texture has become an exciting feature of her work, building up layers of collage and mixed media with a palette knife, before painting with acrylic, and more recently oil. Gillian has original paintings hanging in private homes in New York, Paris, Spain, London and throughout the UK. Gillian also exhibits her original paintings at Duncan R Miller Fine Arts of Bury Street, St James’s, London, Cambridge Contemporary Art, Trinity Street, Cambridge and Gallery 6, Stodman Street, Newark. Due to current circumstances, Gillian is unable to showcase her latest paintings at Burghley Horse Trials or at her annual Open Studios this year so has taken the opportunity to exhibit in the lovely new gallery space at Stamford Contemporary Arts. Gillian regularly completes commissions for clients and is happy to offer appointments at her studio.