MEET OUR ARTISTS
Joanne Beer
Artist Biography
Jo is a painter based in Cornwall UK. Taught at A ‘level’ by Newlyn School artist Vincent Wilson, her work has self developed since.
Predominantly figurative, she explains “ The wonderful thing about people is that there is no such thing as an ‘ordinary’ person…everyone is extraordinary in their own way”.
Jo’s paintings are intimate studies, she enjoys quirky detail of quirky people. Always in oil and with fairly broad brush strokes, they are expressive, contemporary portraits. Twice featured in Sky Art Portrait Artist of the Year, with one of her images ( not pretty but pretty honest) being selected to appear over and over in a huge installation of a portrait of The Mona Lisa on Clapham Common, London following series one, and with actor Parminder Nagra choosing her portrait to take home with her in series 3.
Jo has exhibited extensively in the Southwest both with solo exhibitions and as part of collectives.
As well as producing work to sell through galleries, she also regularly undertakes private commissions, and is always very pleased to discuss requests and ideas.
Publications…Jo’s work has featured in Artwalk Magazine NYC, Encyclopaedia of Oil Techniques ( by Jeremy Galton), A Little Book Of Portraits ( Sky Arts), Cube 3 Gallery, Plymouth Signpost Exhibitions Volume 4,5,6,7.
Martin Bush
Martin has enjoyed over 30 years in the art world starting out as a commercial artist in the early ninety’s, running parallel with this he always liked to paint which then became his full focus in 1998.
His early creations were about being playful with techniques, he says he was never very interested in using a brush!
Pouring, scraping, smudging, and sometimes letting gravity take the flow, he found new ideas and ways to create. It’s the same with the paint itself, all though primarily he prefers acrylic he has many experimental ways in using household oil paints and other paints that you won’t normally consider mixing together, but he likes the way different paints create interesting textures and this keeps the creativeness flowing. “There’s always something to find and learn in this 2D world, well some paintings have become quite 3D” he says.
Martin has gained great success with collectors of his work stretching across the UK, Europe, America and Australia.
He was invited to be artist in residence at the Royal William Yard in Plymouth in 2004, this is where, he says, his most fruitful times have been.
His latest work is full of new excitement which we are glad to exhibit in our gallery. We also have a few of his early large canvases you will enjoy too.
He also now sometimes paints with a brush!
Rosie is an established artist working out of her studio in Plymouth.
Since attending Arts University Plymouth she travelled extensively throughout Europe, America, and the Far East.
Mainly painting with acrylics her eclectic style ranges from textured abstracts to illustrative and quirky portraits, painted mannequins and most recently a series of works about personal interaction. Her art has a global following and can be found in the homes of collectors in France, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, United States of America, Lanzarote and throughout the UK.
She has exhibited in Plymouth, Exeter, Exmouth, Teignmouth, Totnes, Torquay and London and was chosen as one of six artists for the inaugural exhibition at the art gallery at Powderham Castle and currently has art displayed in Sea Dog Art gallery in Exmouth.
Her murals can be see on the busy corner of Molesworth Road and Wilton Street, which was carried out from a commission by Plymouth Artists Together and in Colin Campbell Court in the center of Plymouth, commissioned by Plymouth Community Homes to depict the diversity of its tenants in the area.
Veronica Ellis
Veronica is a digital mixed media and print artist inspired by the forms and abundance of nature. Born and bred in rural Cambridge, she is now loving life in Plymouth.
Her work brings together art tradition, print making, photography and digital creation, and is inspired by nature. She aims to take the taboo out of ‘beauty’ in art and her work celebrates the magnificence of nature and its infinite forms.
Creativity is a life passion for Veronica, and she has been drawing, painting, and making, since childhood. She often combines these passions in her work, finding inspiration everywhere, from the smallest detail in a plant, to the sacred patterns within nature, to the grandest vista with its light, scale and presence.
She often works in layers – whether printing by hand or using a digital palette – to transform the familiar into something new.
Veronica works both as an independent artist and as the designer and founder of Nature’s Grace (naturesgrace.co.uk); beautiful individual images and creations born from a deep connection and appreciation of nature.
