Artist of the week - Kosana Marton

Kosana Marton is our new featured Artist of the week. Kosana is a Scottish artist based in Fife. Originally from East Kilbride, she studied art and design in Glasgow after completing her secondary education and, after a break from the arts, returned to study fine art at Edinburgh College of Art in 1991.

She takes her inspiration from nature; surroundings, colour, light and texture all play a part in helping her to create contemporary paintings using acrylic, mixed media and watercolour. Her subject matter varies dependent on her mood at the time, ranging from landscapes to abstract. She also enjoys figurative work like the one shown here.

She doesn’t work from sketch books, preferring to work from reality, photographs or memories. Her paintings start as a rough idea in her mind’s eye when a basic colour palette is also decided. However, from that point on, the rest of the painting evolves spontaneously on the canvas until completion.

Kosana has her work in private collections throughout the UK, Europe, USA and New Zealand. The NHS also purchased 9 paintings for permanent display the Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline. She exhibits throughout the year at various venues/galleries.

Click HERE to see more of Kosana's work on Affordable British Art

Artist of the Week - Claire Losada

This week, we have Claire Losada as our AOW. Claire says:
"I am a self representing artist and mostly my work represent my own moods and emotions.

I use my art as a vehicle to convey my emotional states and well being, through use of colour and application of chosen media. Vivid hues translate to give a representation of moods that enlighten the onlooker, where no explanation is necessary.

The paintings, of varying subject matter are set to convey messages through the very essence of their simplicity. The use of subdued ochre hues, appear unsettling purely through the use of colour but a sunset or a sunrise can depict a sense of harmony and serenity and an enviable state of emotion.

These paintings are intended to communicate and reach out to the onlooker, invoking a real emotion. At that moment they are influenced by the artwork, it is having an effect on their mood and state of mind. It is communicating with the onlooker by the very essence of its existence, borne from the emotions and mood of its creator.

The vehicle of paint has been used as a way of expressing myself and venting emotions experienced through the stresses of everyday life. Experiencing a roller coaster of emotions, I sought a vehicle for communicating and retaining my sanity that turned sometimes negative emotions, into something productive and positive.

Some of us have seen sanity, if only in a vision but for me, my vision is communicated through my work.

To see more of Claire's work on Affordable British Art, click HERE

Artist of the week - Liz Lees

Well, this week we have Liz Lees as our Artist of the week.Liz paints people pictures and textured Oil paintings which se describes as "One person’s look at life through visual images. Every picture has a story." Liz has been drawing and painting all her life. Her first work to be noticed were the little houses she drew on the wall beside her bed in a hotel while the family were on holiday.
Deciding not to be influenced by a formal art education, Liz studied Zoology and Botany enjoying the concentration of detailed observation and drawing.
From an early age Liz was involved in theatre, influenced by her ventriloquist father. She gained her Stage Designers and Actors Equity card working at North East Theatre in Aberdeen.
In 1984 she achieved a Post Graduate Diploma from Guildford School of Acting and Dance.
On moving to Manchester to pursue her acting career she performed in television in Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Brookside and on stage at the Royal Exchange and on the Edinburgh Fringe.
She formed her own theatre company Green Light Theatre writing, directing and performing in shows with environmental themes across the North West of England. She also developed training programmes passing on the skills she has learnt in performance, set design and writing.
Liz was influenced by the multicultural area of Old Trafford where she lived in Manchester, to create her quirky people pictures. Frequent visits to North Wales beaches and mountains brought a contrast to the city and in her work.

To see more of Liz's work, click HERE

Artist of the Week - Lindi Kirwin

Lindi Kirwin is our Artist of the Week this time. Lindi is a professional Artist, exhibiting in many galleries and selling her work to private collectors, worldwide.

Based at her studio on the 3rd floor at Vernon Mill in Stockport, Lindi’s contemporary paintings are inspired by many of the Old Masters, and of today’s artists, Jenny Saville; yet in contrast to her morbid reflection of the human form, she admires the romantic beauty of Pino Daeni’s style. Egon Schiele is also a firm favourite for inspiration.

Lindi’s passion of figurative work is tastefully provocative and sensual. The image shown is called "Alone in the Dark"; her land/seascapes are vibrant and atmospheric; all these paintings are executed in her specialism of dry-brush acrylic, using no water. However, it is evident that she is also recognised for her work in oils and mixed media, and her humorous pen illustrations. She uses her photos and sketches for reference and is also inspired by proverbs, quotes, poetry text, which she will successfully interpret into abstract paintings.

In 2006, she was approached by Dorling Kindersley publishers to use examples of her work in their art books. She has also recently had a very successful partnership with Durer's, producing a highly unusual and individual piece, auctioned for charity and bought by Theo Paphitas - of Dragon's Den fame.

Click HERE to see more of Lindi's work on Affordable British Art