“Philippa Beale

Born 1946

Lives and works in La Roche de Bord, France

Philippa Beale was born and raised in the Hampshire countryside and knows that the view which takes our breath away and most of what we perceive to be ‘natural’, is in fact managed for pragmatic and profitable reasons. There are different types of woodland, crops for fuel or sawmills or grown as wind breaks and for hunting; all are wild-life preserves. Many who now object to hunting would not be able to walk under the greenwood trees without the ancient huntsman who planted them. Without land management, the rural landscape painter would have nothing to draw or to create from.

Living in London, Beale’s artistic concerns were mainly political and sociological. Now living in the country, opposite a lake and a grove of trees with a river at the bottom of her garden, she has become a landscape painter in the tradition of English landscape artists like Edward Arthur Wilson, Paul Nash and Samuel Palmer. Many years ago, Beale was taught by the etcher Paul Drury who posited that the pastoral landscape was in the blood of all English artist’s and given the opportunity and the right views, we couldn’t help but record it.

Autumn in the Hunting Wood started from small pen and ink drawings, which were then scanned and coloured in Photoshop and printed in archival ink onto canvas. The image is then over painted in oil but not coloured in, resulting in a multi-dimensional image preserving areas of luminosity.

Hog’s Back, Hampshire was influenced by the Canadian Landscape Painters of the 19th century who, because the light was so bright, saw and therefore used pure colour. Once in a while in England from a high vantage point, one sees this kind of colour and for a short while, particularly in early evening these colours are true.

PHILIPPA BEALE studied at Winchester School of Art, University of Reading, Goldsmith’s College and was the fi rst Artist in Residence at Southampton City Art Gallery funded by The Arts Council of Great Britain. Beale has exhibited across the UK, Europe and the USA. Solo exhibitions include; The Angela Flowers Gallery, Camden Arts Centre, The Akumulatory Gallery, Poland, Southampton City Art Gallery and Les Cloîtres Gallery, Poitiers France. Blue Bird and Other Stories, LCC Galleries, University of the Arts London.”