Lindsay Berry

My work always has a strong resemblance to the subject but I like to leave some chance for the viewer to insinuate their own thoughts, so some areas are just suggestions to be concluded by others.

I sometimes draw first or sometimes not, it depends on my mood. Layers of pure watercolour paint make up the darks while I leave other areas light and some are just the original paper without paint. If I am painting ‘en pleine aire’ I usually do a detailed sketch initially, firstly to use up my obsession with detail and drawing and secondly to check the tone of the subject, then I can start a fresh painting, with less or no sketching, knowledgably but with freedom.

Inspiration is drawn from visual and emotional stimuli, buildings, views, people, animals, flowers -there will be something that just catches my eye and makes me want to paint it for pure pleasure.

My theme is life and all it includes, old buildings with history embedded within, the countryside tame or wild, surrounding and sustaining us, and all that live within. If it makes a picture in my mind then I want to paint it and the biggest thrill comes when a connection is made in the mind of a viewer who completes the paintings story with their own conclusion.”

Location: Hampshire