Artists

Amanda works at dream on. She finds art a great source of pleasure and relaxation. It is an activity that allows her to create pieces without the pressures of daily life. Creating art that children will enjoy makes this an even more enjoyable piece of work.

Lockdown meant that many young families were spending much more time together so Amanda decided to choose a theme that was recognisable to young and old…..apparently Harry Potter was the most read book during lockdown so it seemed the perfect representation.

At school Bridget was told she was poor at art and so she stopped painting. That all changed following a conversation between a local artist Mary Harding and Bridget’s husband. When he told her Bridget’s story she said “bring her to me, I’ll teach her” and so over 20 years ago Bridget began painting. Since then she has spent time with artists in the UK and overseas developing her skills and discovering her love of art. She had the most fantastic mentor, Win Fenning, who built her skills, inspired her, gave her confidence and a love of art. A completely different place from where Bridget was as a little girl.

Dan studied illustration at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design. For Dan, art is about enjoying the process of escaping everything else that he has going on, whilst challenging himself to look more and capture the movement and feeling of what he is seeing. In 2019 he attended the Society of Wildlife Artists, John Busby Seabird drawing course, which was a wonderful experience. Dan has always had a love of the natural world and he endeavours to capture this through paintings, but has always wanted to develop a freedom that hasn't always been there.

Ellie studied art and product design at school as well as AS-Level. She is mostly creative in her spare time by drawing, painting and handmaking jewellery. Ellie also owns a small Etsy shop where she sells handmade jewellery.

Issy is a recent Maths graduate from the University of Exeter who has spent the months before Covid travelling and exploring South America. Based in London, Issy has always had a passion for art and all things creative, having two architects as parents at home. From being an art prefect during primary school to sleepless nights during a-levels, it's aways been a side hobby that she thoroughly enjoys, no matter how frustrating mixing a colour can be!

Joy lives in Eye and is passionate about all aspects of costume and textiles. Teaching for nearly 40 years enabled her to build up a diverse knowledge base that includes historical events that have affected peoples lives and are now woven into the history of costume and textiles.

Born in London in 1978, Karen spent many of her school years in Geneva, before returning to the UK to attend Hampstead Fines Arts College in London. In 2014 she moved to Eye, where she has a home studio. A portrait and figure artist, Karen uses a minimalistic, sculptural style to describe structure, aiming to capture her sitter using the least marks possible. Karen's work was recently selected for the Portraits for NHS Heroes exhibition and the accompanying Bloomsbury book. In May 2021 she was awarded the President's Prize at the Institute of East Anglian Artists Open Exhibition.

From her garden studio, Louise designs and makes bespoke stained-glass windows to commission and create original and unique glass gifts. The natural world is always the inspiration for her work, but it is also heavily influenced by light and pattern and can incorporate both traditional and contemporary techniques. She also offers a restoration service and teaches workshops

Michael is a Travel Sales manager at Imaginative Traveller and Dragoman. Born in Ipswich, he has also lived in Leeds, London, Australia and Cape Town. He returned to Suffolk in his mid 20's and now lives with his partner and son in the beautiful village of Somersham. Michael is an amateur painter having revisited it again in recent years. He is lucky enough to travel with his work which allows him to take influence for his paintings from many different cultures. For the hare, he decided to show it wearing a jumper with the national flags of every country in the world -197 in total. Try and see how many you can recognise.

Nicola is an eclectic artist mindfully creating whimsical watercolours and mixed media pieces, with a love of gold. Nicola's abstract art is often highly textured and many pieces feature her signature gold/brass leaf in amongst the mixed media and collages to which she is drawn. Conversely, some of her smaller 'lighter' pieces feature vintage inspired watercolours and home-made botanical inks. Intuitive, and using a varied colour palette, her work appeals to a variety of tastes. Nicola is also a keen photographer and uses her digital skills to create wall art.

Paul is very shy about his artwork, despite being incredibly talented from a very young age. He is a skilled carpenter and has spent all of his working life in the building trade with very little time to pursue his artwork, with the exception of a handful of family commissions and the bedroom walls of his three children Jack, Charlie and Emily. Paul enjoys painting in water colours and acrylics and he painted the distinctive red rose for the Rosedale logo. Some of his recent works include sketches of his children, a canvas of his father who sadly passed away in 2017 and various wildlife images including a barn owl

Sally is a former lawyer turned property developer. She's recently resurrected her old passion for acrylics and oils and is delighted to be involved in the Eye Art trail She's enjoyed doing more painting and trying her hand at pottery in the last few years and is looking to do more creative pursuits as she approaches retirement

Sharon lives in the centre of Eye and has lived in Suffolk all her life. As a child she was inspired to create art by watching her grandfather painting oil landscapes. Since graduating from Ipswich Art School, she's had a thirty year career as a graphic designer. In her spare time she enjoys experimenting with various art techniques and mediums, including printmaking, acrylic painting and cyanotypes, and she's known for her leaf artworks in pen and watercolour.

Sharon's ‘HAREMONY’ is comprised of 3 key elements:

Harmony: A harmonious rainbow of colours in the form of flowing fur-like brush strokes in an impressionist art style;

Yin-Yang: The balance of opposing forces (there can be no light without darkness) positivity post pandemic;

Moon: Moon-gazing hare (brings good fortune and abundance) - the textured moon is made from silver leaf with photoluminescent craters that glow in the dark.