As a visual artist, I like to explore thoughts and concepts by using my default linear and geometric language. I am inspired by communicating ideas visually, with themes often derived from current issues within society, architecture, old photos, or personal experience. I like to experiment with different styles, but generally my work is abstract in nature, and created with layers of colour and shape, balance and order. I was previously represented by the Rhubarb Tree Gallery in Portsmouth between 2015 – 2017 and have been based in my own studio in Cowes for the last eight years.

I have been painting since my mid-teens, self-taught, and happiest working in acrylic mediums. Most recently, I have exhibited in Southampton at the Gallery Grounds 'Artivist' exhibition, the South-West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in their 2024 annual open exhibition, Fox Yard Studios in Stowmarket, and was short-listed for the 2024 Monkton Arts Prize.

Artists Links:

Social media: www.instagram.com/thepaintedsmile/ 

Website: www.alanmooreart.com

Amanda and Graham Cope are the creative duo behind MarMoo, where storytelling, texture, and pattern come together in vibrant, emotionally resonant work. Their practice spans painting, sketching, mixed media, and jewellery design, with each piece reflecting a shared love of nature, colour, and quiet craftsmanship. They work with materials including wood, pineapple leather, recycled acrylic, sterling silver, canvas, ink, and paints—chosen for their sustainability and tactile beauty.

Their jewellery collections are entirely designed, cut, assembled, and finished in-house, using custom shapes and processes that honour their commitment to authenticity. Nothing is outsourced; every detail is shaped by their own hands. Amanda and Graham are currently exploring new ways to bring their patterns and artwork into fresh forms—from collaborative canvas prints to experimental mixed media. Their work is rooted in emotional connection, independent making, and the joy of creating side by side.

Artists Links:

Since studying at Farnham Art School as a teenager I've been lucky to have enjoyed a fulfilling creative working life - from hairdressing and make-up in the film and television industry to painting pictures and designing houses here on the Isle of Wight. 

Form and shape have long been key in my mind’s eye, so perhaps my fairly recent move to, and my developing obsession with ceramic art might have been predicted.

My style is ever evolving. I love colour and texture, I like the unusual, I enjoy sculpture but I also like functionality.

Working from my small studio in Ryde, I have not only discovered a new string to my creative bow, but a new sense of practical peaceful purpose - Love Clay.

Artists Links:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/andrewlucas.uk 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Andylucks 

I’ve been drawing and painting for most of my life but I really started to concentrate on art in 2022 after my career in insurance came to an end. 

Most of my pictures are in acrylics and many feature the sea and the landscape of the Isle of Wight, where I’ve lived since 2001. I like to experiment with different ways of applying paint to create textures and patterns. This sometimes results in my pictures having a mosaic-like appearance, which borders on the abstract at times. It also means I can get through a lot of masking tape!

​Most of my pictures are painted in the studio, though I started doing some work outside during 2023 and have come to appreciate the immediacy that plein air painting brings, though I obviously have a lot to learn. 

​I’m a member of the Isle of Wight Art Club and joined the National Acrylic Painters Association (NAPA) in 2025. I have exhibited at Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight and Kennaway House in Sidmouth and also participate in the Isle of Wight Under the Bed Sale. Rather extraordinarily, in June 2025 I took part in Landscape Artist of the Year at St James’s Park which, I’m told, will air on Sky Arts in early 2026.

Artists Links:

Social media: instagram.com/islepaint

Website: www.islepaint.co.uk

Botanical Seaweed and Gyotaku Art by Angela Coupe. 

I create Art and Crafts from sustainably foraged Seaweed collected on Isle of Wight beaches. Seaweed specimens are washed, dried, hand pressed and arranged on watercolour paper to produce original Art. 

Gyotaku is the ancient traditional Japanese Art of printing with real fish, a practise which dates back to the 1800s, Gyo meaning fish and taku meaning rubbing. I include different nature inspired methods of printing and craft techniques into my pictures including Cyanotype (sun printing) Decoupage, sewn Collage creating multimedia Art. 

Artists Links:

Website : www.botanicalseaweedart.co.uk.   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seaweedpicture               

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/botanicalseaweedart/   

Painting and embroidery has always been a passion of mine and when l look through my old college sketchbooks , l see that l'm still drawn to similar subject matter of  landscapes, colour and pattern .

In the late 70s early 80s l made patchwork quilts using Islamic shapes for Harvey Nichols  and painted botanical designs for Harrods.

Laterally  , the Pyrenees mountains and cloud formations have inspired me. 

These days l enjoy experimenting with mixed media with fabric and stitching in a looser abstract way. 

Clare Alexander is an artist based on the Isle of Wight, working in oil and charcoal, both en plein air and from her studio. She studied portraiture and landscape at the London Fine Art Studios. Before pursuing her art career, Clare spent 20 years teaching and living in Australia, Laos, Kazakhstan, and Slovakia.

Clare has completed portrait commissions for clients across the UK, USA, South Africa, and Slovakia. Her work is deeply rooted in observation, where composition plays a crucial role in creating a complete piece.

Focusing on light, the changing colours of the sky, and their reflections in nature, Clare aims to capture the fleeting moods and atmospheres that the landscape evokes. With charcoal and oil, she embraces the flexibility of these media to create thoughtful, emotive works.

 Artists Links:

Social media: https://www.instagram.com/clarealexanderart/

Website: https://www.clarealexander.art/

I paint landscapes and seascapes in oil and acrylic, inspired by the majesty of open space and the Island's vistas.

I am drawn to the Island’s coastline and aim to capture the effect of the changing seasons and time of day on the land. I start paint in situ so that I can capture the wind, movement and sounds in that moment.

Over the past few years I have worked in a variety of mediums: oils, acrylics and watercolours and have even dabbled in cold wax and drawing on the iPad!  However, painting large canvases with acrylics is my favourite because the medium forces me to work quickly, creating a sense of immediacy and fleetingness.

I welcome enquires about commissions; I enjoy the challenge of capturing what is important or special to you about a view.

I teach a monthly painting group and run workshops for adult learners, with a focus on allowing my students to develop their own expressive style.

Artists Links:

Social media: https://www.instagram.com/clare_bowen_artist/

Website: https://clarebowenart.co.uk/

David Ives is a local interdisciplinary artist working out of his Bembridge studio. With an engineering background he takes inspiration from the vernacular, whilst demonstrating a high level of tacit knowledge, rigour and confidence. His work is often ludic in nature, whilst showing a sympathy and understanding of both the materials and process. David’s work moves unapologetically into new territory and pushes the boundaries within a traditional craft practice. 

David has exhibited in London as part of the Guild of master craftsman exhibition and is a member of the register of professional turners ( RPT) under the worshipful company of turners.

From her home studio in Gurnard, Deni Lavender specialises in hand-built ceramics and glass fusion.  Trained initially at Camberwell College of Art she held her first solo exhibition in 2009 and has since exhibited across London and the South both individually and as part of art collectives.

Her ceramic pieces, both functional and decorative, reflect the shapes and colours of natural landscapes and seascapes with recent sculptural pieces that comment on the human condition and draw attention to the fragility of our planet. In her glass work, Deni favours reclaimed glass for its ability to echo natural forms such as sea plants whilst giving a second life to forgotten fragments.

Artists Links

Facebook:  Deni Lavender

Instagram: @deni.lavender

I have been drawing and painting all my life for myself, friends and family. I went to art college in Sheffield for 2 years then left to work and have a family. I love using mixed media with acrylic, oil, marker pens, spray paint. 

I worked in retail till 2022 when I moved to the IOW. OMG it was such an arty place so i picked up my brush and pens and joined an art club to start a new journey and meeting new friends. I joined Open Studios and IOW art Club and did my first exhibition at Monkton Arts in August 2025. 

I just love art!

Artists Links

Heather combines plein air and studio based painting, meandering freely between the landscape, the figure and seascape subject matters. Often inspired by nature and our experience of, or connection with it, Heather may explore the way light moves across a subject, the experience of moving through or observing a physical space, or the fascination of a facial expression or human experience. Captured moments of interest then, often dealing with expressive colour, line and composition.

Heather was credited with an MA in Visual Arts by West Dean College (Sussex University), in 2006. Since then she’s won the ‘Stride Open’, Chichester and gained entry into a number of Open National Competitions. Heather was part of the ‘Unity Studios’, founded by Tim Sandy-Renton and remained working with Dr. Sharon-Michi Kusunoki until 2021, on group exhibitions for projects including ‘All that Remans, the Sinking of the Titanic’ and ‘Tutankhamen’. 

Artists Links

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/heathercreatesart/

Heidi has a fine art background and has achieved a MA in fine art painting from the royal college of art 2012 and a BA fine art from slade school of art 2009. Foundation art and design Chelsea college of Art 2004

Heidi also works as a tattooist for 10 years in Portsmouth. Alongside tattooing she is an artists in residence at Monkton arts on the Isle of Wight.

Currently Heidi is working through a project at Monkton studying the process of tattooing and mark making and drawing parallels to art history. By studying the carbon that she has tattooed from she wants to explore, identity, ego, symbolism and functionality. 

Heidi has shown her work here and abroad. Working in numerous media, performance , film, sculpture, theatre her main focus currently is in drawing, painting and tattooing. 

ARTISTS LINKS:

Heidi.smith@network.rca.ac.uk

Instagram ;Tattoo work

heidi_smith_tattooist

Fine art practice  heidi.fineartist

Originally qualified as a graphic designer, I have explored artforms including website design, hand knitting, screen printing and mosaics.

Most recently I have found lino-printing an inspiring way to express my artistic ideas.

I have taught art and design in formal educational settings as well as privately to adults and children of all ages and abilities.

Currently, I run private classes in mosaic-making and lino-printing. Please contact me for availability at my classes

ARTISTS LINKS:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hgartsandcrafts/

Website: https://helengoodmanart.co.uk

Jacqui uses stitch and mixed media to explore who she is, to make sense of her early childhood and the journey to where she is now in her life. Her work gives voice to trauma, loss, gratitude and healing. Words have become as important as imagery and she has started to weave her own poems and prose into her work.  

Artists Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Jacqui-Adams-creative-work/100091957723565/?_rdr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquiadams71/

I am at my happiest making. The process brings excitement that I believe can show in results.  So, I work rapidly whilst the juices hopefully flow and the process informs progress and direction.

Training as a sculptor in the 1970s at Kingston I then set up studio in St Helens. I worked in leather, fabrics and wood as well as cast and fabricated metals. Shortly, unconvinced of the value of my work, I ‘veered off’. 

I have always loved the sea and spent the next five years fishing commercially, then, after a spell in crayfish farming “settled down”. Twenty-five years in the property industry followed.

Then when the children were born, and I really wanted to draw them. Art was back. Since then figurative work has been the mainstay of my practice working from our houseboat where I maintain my connection with making, art and the sea.

Jeremy Gully  Painting people, animals and boats

Artists Links:

Facebook: Jeremygully 

Instagram : jeremygullyart

Website: jeremygully.co.uk

Phone: 07500703113

Jill’s work is based on wildlife, nature and the landscape of the Island.

Her hand produced images are created using various printmaking techniques, primarily linocut and collagraph.

She also enjoys painting in watercolour. 

Based in Cowes Jill is a member of both the Isle of Wight Art Club and Cowes Art Group

She also exhibits with Wight Printmakers and at Open Studios. 

Artists Links:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jillroehoney/

Website: https://www.isleofwightopenstudios.co.uk/artist-profile/jillroe/

Email: Jill@djroe.plus.com

Phone: 07851 719009

Isle of Wight based artist- commissions on request prices start from £120 and mostly work on wood. 

Artists Links:

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/jimfew_artworkofficial/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Jim-Few-Artwork-100063443905130/

Email: jimfew@hotmail.co.uk 

Many things need quiet attention- What we make are, at least for me wordless conversations. 

Then reflection- to ponder if anything of worth faces us

We can be cruel critics of our own efforts but ultimately perhaps only others can judge that - is life in the work that comes into their thoughts, feeling, perceptions. 

I have less answers only questions. 

Artists Links:

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/staycentred/home

Hi I’m Jo from creative reusables. I have always been drawn to textiles and colours and I’ve been sewing for many years.  I make  tote bags, and other bags  from vintage and recycled fabrics. My scrappy Art tote bags are all unique and one of a kind , turning old fabric into something beautiful and useful again. 

Artists Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creative_reusables/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewoolshack.iow/

Website: https://creativereusables.co.uk/

Email: jo@creativereusables.co.uk

Katie Stone is an illustrator, printmaker, and a part-time primary school teacher based on the Isle of Wight. She graduated in illustration from Camberwell College of Arts, UAL but didn’t develop a love for printmaking until moving to the island in 2014.

She is inspired by history, folklore, and superstition. Her love of illustration and animation from her childhood is a big influence on Katie’s work together with the ever-inspiring antics of her gorgeous dog Gilmour.

Katie works traditionally and digitally, creating posters and illustrations for clients, producing various marketing materials for various events as well as leading workshops and exhibiting and selling her own artwork.

Currently, Katie is enjoying developing her linocut illustrations in hopes of producing a variety of images for future storytelling projects. She works in her home studio

based in Sandown.

Artists Links:

Website: https://kjsdoodleprints.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kjsdoodleprints?igsh=M3h5cHc3M3Y2NnVo&utm_source=qr

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KJSIllustratedLino 

FIBRE ARTIST

Since learning her craft, Loren has developed her own style, drawing on inspiration from nature and her love of the outdoors - her other career is as a garden designer.

Her work has increased in variety and size and has been exhibited and sold in various galleries and outlets including Yarmouth Gallery, The Peoples Gallery in Ryde, Burfields in Ventnor, Quarr Abbey, St Barbe Gallery in Lymington and Giles Gallery in South Wales.

Loren, who comes from Wales originally, also runs very popular and successful workshops, where she teaches the creation of fibre art to students of all ages and abilities. She also loves selling at craft fairs and shows, as this is where the technique of needle felting can be demonstrated to people who have never seen it before. Her work ranges from greetings cards, right up to large framed originals and commissions.

Loren is also part of The Ryde Art Collective (TRAC)

Artists Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesingingcrafter7/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loren.thorn

Website: https://www.lorenthorn.co.uk/

Email: lorenbrooks1@aol.com 

I am a local artist based in Wroxall.

Since retiring from teaching a couple of years ago I have more time to spend following my interest in painting. I love to paint seascapes and landscapes observing the light and colour at different times of day, and through the changing seasons. I am also experimenting with portraying this in more abstract ways. Some of my work is on sale at Burfields Gallery in Ventnor, and has also been shown at Monkton Arts last year.

I work from my studio in my garden. Thank you for reading!

Artists Links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindalloydart/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575997070696

Email lindalloydartist@gmail.com

Etsy shop: LindaLloydArt

I'm based in Ryde & love beach-combing and drifwood-scavenging up and down our wonderful coastline. I've always enjoyed working with wood and also with acrylic paints and I'm also currently exploring ways of combining these into 3-D pieces. I try and use recycled wood / driftwood where possible in all my pieces, so each piece will have it's own story or history, quite apart from what I add.

Artists Links:

Instagram -- @remaderyde

Web -- www.remaderyde.co.uk

Just looking!

So here we are at the artist statement bit. Hi I'm Sandy, I have a studio at Monkton and another at home. I am following a lifetime pursuit (in other words I was born this way!!) and brought it with me to the Island 8 years ago. I'm not going to try and expand what I do or why when I don't even know myself; suffice it to say that I have a prodigious output in a variety of materials (paint and brushes included, but not exclusive) on different surfaces. A lot of it is to do with the figure (but not all) and I will let you know when I have found the answer to everything (which probably won't be anytime soon!). Until then feel free to purchase anything you see at Monkton and visits to my home studio are very welcome (just don't expect me to explain anything !)

Yours sincerely Sandy Kendall xx

Artists Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandy.kendall.5439

Website: https://www.sandykendallart.co.uk/

Open studios website: https://www.isleofwightopenstudios.co.uk/artist-gallery/sandykendall/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandykendallart/

Photographic Impressions

I am a Ventnor-based multiple exposure and digital montage photographer. Originally an English language teacher, trainer, author from Athens, Georgia (USA), I worked in Poland and Italy before moving to the UK in 2001. I studied photography for two terms at university, but it wasn’t until 2008 that I decided to pursue and develop my photography.

Through the medium of multiple exposure and photographic layering using digital tools, I explore and express the mood or impression in the moment of capturing an image. This moment might have been surreal or just interesting, serious or humorous, calm or turbulent or simply something that felt beautiful. Sometimes the picture can tell a whole story. I invite the viewer to be curious: stop and look closely at my work, interpret it in your own way, tell your own story, and enjoy. 

Artists Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/staceyhollidayhughes

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/staceyhollidayhughes 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/staceyhhughes/

website: https://staceyphotos.com/

I photograph wabi-sabi subjects.  Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic grounded in the Zen belief of the imperfection, impermanence and incompleteness of all things.   And simplicity.

Wabi-sabi photography captures the beauty of the imperfect, impermanent and incomplete subjects focusing on the natural cycle of growth and decay, aged textures, and subtle details in everyday objects and scenes.

It contrasts with Western aesthetics of perfection by highlighting the quiet, understated, and transient aspects of life through a mindful appreciation of flaws and weathering, which lends authenticity and character...

Artists Links:

Instagram:   @stuzenimages777

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/stuzenimages

I've been living on this wonderful, inspiring Island for almost 5 years now. I've been drawing and painting for a lot of years but only really professionally for around 3 years. 

 My medium is now coloured pencils which I really enjoy but have tried watercolour painting in the past. Of course I love drawing peoples pets but my passion, when I get the opportunity, is wildlife - especially British wildlife."

Artists Links:

Facebook - Tanya Solomons Art

Insta - @tanpetportraits

Website - www.petportraitsbytanya.co.uk

I started playing with art stuff about 20 years ago. I enjoy tactile processes, and learning about different mediums and styles. I left school early and was guided to study art at the IOW college. Though it kept me out of trouble; I strayed from my art consistently until it became all I had in 2013. Since then I have been grateful to receive opportunities to play and study; through the Quay Arts centre. Sustaining a creative practice has helped me to survive life's turmoils. It enabled me to navigate homelessness, trauma, loss, diagnosis, neurodiversity and addiction. A friend said to me once: when there is nothing else, there is always; art.

Learning to express and process through paint and pain, to trust the process, and to exist against the odds, is my current focus. I love colour, contrast and am excited to join the Monkton arts collective and develop things further.

Artists Links:

Social media:

Website: 

The Island’s beautiful flora and fauna has been a significant inspiration behind Verity’s work, particularly her love of sailing and the reflections of light she’s observed in the sea. This has translated into her painting as a playful experimentation with lighting.

Artists Links:

Website: www.veritypetraits.co.uk 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/verity_bairdart/

I'm still quite new to the Island, arrived three years ago from the New Forest where I grew up. I lived on Barton clifftop with a stunning view of the Needles and often thought I'd end up living here : - )

My work is hugely important to my daily life; I paint in oils and work quickly and instinctively. I don't make too many prep studies as I prefer to compose a composition directly onto the canvas, just love starting off a new work with hope and enthusiasm.

I tend to be autobiographical in many paintings, I feature an 'alter ego' with a variety of animals, including my own pets, currently expecting my first cockatiel!

I have exhibited at Mall Galleries with Royal Society of British Artists and New English Art Club; Christies Wildlife Auction; Hunting Art Prizes at RCA London: I was awarded First Prize in Monkton Arts Open Exhibition 2025, and have work in many collections here and abroad. 

Artists Links:

Website: www.vickigolden.co.uk  

I have worked with clay over many years and I am still fascinated by the material’s endless possibilities.

Studying sculpture at college, enabled me to develop the hand building skills required to tackle large scale structural ceramics and it is mainly these techniques which I continue to use and develop in my work. 

Alongside my own art practice, I have had a long career in arts education, teaching in schools and colleges in London and on the Island.

Since leaving teaching in 2021, I have set up a small ceramics studio and have been working on smaller scale hand built pieces. These explore the abstract elements of form, surface texture and colour, through observation of natural forms. They often incorporate other materials which allude to the relationship between people and the material world.
Artists Links:
Website: https://www.isleofwightopenstudios.co.uk/artist-profile/wendyhaydenceramics/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendy.hayden/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009502856296

In 2022, I graduated from the University of Chichester with a first-class honours degree in Fine Art. Using oils, mainly on board, my practice developed through investigating structural boundaries and how buildings and their spaces influence the way we encounter them.

Last year I graduated from the University of Portsmouth with an MA in Architecture (Spatial Design Practices). During this time I have been investigating issues such as our perceptions and ownership of space; how we use it, move through it, inhabit it, understand it – and how space can both gather and separate us. How do places and buildings make us feel and behave?

My style has evolved from my attraction to geometric shapes and how they can – and do – evoke emotions such as stability, harmony and order, as well as power, danger and uncertainty; emotions which can also be attributed to our experiences of moving through and around different types of buildings and spaces.

Artists Links:

Website: wendyhodges.co.uk
email: wendyhodges99@gmail.com
Instagram: @wendyghodges

Growing up in Northern England, my father's passion for painting sparked my own love for art. Now based on the isle of Wight , i draw daily inspiation from nature, literature, spiritual music and dance. These passions fill my work with joy and meaning. its my hope that every piece i create brings peace love and enpowermentinto your home, offering a daily reminder of beauty and calm in the world around us. 

Artists Links:

Website: wendyhoughtonarts.co.uk 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561890797401

I am a mixed media artist based on the Isle of Wight. I like to explore new materials and subjects in my art. I find I am at my best creatively when I just let myself go with a project. I really like story-telling and things in my life tend to take me off in different ways.

I chose to make a knitting project as an art piece and I made a knitted blanket that told the journey of finding undyed wool and the journey of my life at that time. I have exhibited this at an exhibition locally. (See my Instagram: The undyed Blanket). I make assemblages and sculptures out of materials I find on the beach. I like using these materials because they are unique to each piece. I have developed the technique of deconstructing rope and then I knit with it to use this in my assemblages and to make sculptures. I like to talk about plastic pollution and the environment, and I find the things that I have made are good conversation openers to talk about these issues. I had an exhibition showcasing this work at another local gallery in 2023.

A lot of my work is family orientated; I made a series of lino print works based on the pandemic and issues around not seeing my family and the breaking of rules. I had a piece in the Biennial Exhibition at Quay Arts in 2021.

This latest project has come about by exploring things about new diagnoses of ADHD and Autism and neurodiversity that have happened to my family in the last few years. We are finding more out about ourselves all the time including gender identities. I was able to use these to tie in with the theme of Soft as my entry for this years Biennial Exhibition entry at Quay Arts again.

My life and art intertwine on these journeys, and I find expression using different materials and new techniques I learn along the way. I did the Portfolio course at the Quay Arts in 2018, and my practice has been developing ever since then. I have learnt new skills and redeveloped old skills too.