Newquay Tea Towel

Iris Clelford went to art school in Birmingham, but now lives and paints in Cornwall. Iris was taught to handle oils in the fashion of the old masters, and her love for the medium hasn’t diminished in 40 years.

Iris loves experimenting with new materials, including oils, acrylics and watercolours. At the moment metallic acrylic is a medium she adores; it helps to enhance her landscapes and portraits, which are full of light and reflection. Iris likes to affect the mood of her paintings with her brushwork, which changes depending on the picture’s subject.

Describing her work as ‘full of light, subtle colours, and showing subjects that sit easy on the eye’, Iris is inspired by the simple things around her. Her subjects range from the look on a persons face to the grace of a horse running free. "I can't remember a time when I wasn't either colouring, sketching or painting.

From the age of 7 I was obsessed with ' Paint by Numbers'. As I grew older my passion for art expanded and going to an art school in Birmingham at the age of 11 encouraged me further.

My preferred medium is oil paint. I love the creamy texture and vibrant colours, It may also be because I have a life long experience using them.

I build my paintings up slowly using glazes , because of the necessary drying time required I tend to work on several paintings at a time. It is very rare that a day passes without me working on some work of art.

I always travel with my camera, 2b pencil and paper and when away on holiday I take my watercolours.

I make notes about the light and tonal values of the subject that has caught my eye to help instil the memory, as even though I still paint plein -air I prefer the comfort of painting at home. Iris x"

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