Four artist friends who live and work in the Cotswolds, who are inspired by the landscape and buildings of the area. Each has their own unique approach to painting and the methods they employ are many and varied.

Artist Statements

Daphne Malfiggiani

Trained in Graphic Design in the 1970s gaining a Regional Diploma. I enjoy working in different media and the challenge of a variety of subjects. My painting is mainly inspired by walking the landscape of Britain and is constantly evolving. With a keen interest in typography completed a signwriting course and aim to incorporate more of this into my work.

Valerie Jordan

My recent work has involved drawing, painting, printing and sewing in direct response to both the landscape of Miami, where I lived and worked for a few years and the Cotswolds. In 2016 I collaborated with Michael McEllin, his mathematical transformations of my original paintings, “Paradise What Next” and “Miami Lake” both introduce and break symmetries: allowing me the freedom to realize new structures within my work. I have reinforced the original ideas for my existing pieces, developing exciting juxtapositions of form, detail, shape and colour. This resulting in Digital Prints on Glass, Perpex Canvas and Paper and Video pieces.

Christine Smith

My passion for art started early in life. I spent hours painting and drawing as a child.

Later I attended Gloucestershire College of Art, followed by Portsmouth College of Art and Design, gaining a B.A. in Fine Art. For many years I designed snow effects for films and television. My work is motivated by a love of colour, landscape and emotions. I am not interested in photographic representation of a subject but rather to produce work filled with movement. Travel has been a great source of inspiration as can be seen in some of my paintings.

Ann Cracknell

Always interested in new and changing styles and mediums in art I find I am continually extending my repertoire of work. My landscapes are predominantly watercolour and frequently based on the Cheshire and Derbyshire countryside but my new home in the Cotswolds is starting to influence my work more and more.

My recent work shows a marked change of style and includes painting on backgrounds of collaged Japanese Washi paper. I will often create a number of pieces based on one original sketch using different mediums including, most recently, computer generated images.