Watercolour Artist, Tutor, Demonstrator

Hi, my name is Jo and I reside in Wigan in the north west of England I originally qualified in graphic design before morphing into an artist specialising in drawing, watercolour and mixed media I am an experienced, enthusiastic and qualified adult education tutor, running watercolour workshops throughout the North West of England and enjoy hosting demonstrations, workshops, exhibitions and painting holidays both here and in Europe.

For as long as I can remember I have loved to paint, draw and create and this been one of the most important and positive aspects in my life to date.

The second most important thing has been having the opportunity to inspire other artists to realise the dormant talents they possess and hopefully guide them to a point in time that will give them a sense of contentment and pride in their work

When someone makes the decision to focus a major part of their life to art in any form it is never easy, in some ways it may even be seen as selfish. I should know, as a busy mum in a houseful of men, with my husband and two boys, who has relocated around the country several times to follow my husbands career needs.

The point I am trying to make here is that it is important to keep focused on your inner self and your passion for art It isn’t easy to keep the motivation and rigour of practice and painting alive on a daily basis but believe me, even half an hour to an hour a day will bring results that will be exponentially rewarding in the long term

Eventually my passion for art has delivered and I now find myself in a position where I can at least be involved in the negotiations for the next family move, when or if necessary I find that the time spent painting also acts as a great personal relaxant, despite the occasional, or sometimes more than occasional teeth grinding sessions when a painting doesn`t quite work out how you envisaged

Without doubt , the most enjoyable outcome of being an artist is the people I have had the pleasure to meet personally through my courses and workshops and that these friends and acquaintances will be there for lif.e I am a great believer in painting 'Plein air' and love nothing better than to be on site with my fellow artists collecting ideas and references that can later be used to create a painting.

The qualities I hope to bring to my work are pleasing composition, harmonious colour, interesting textures and the quality of light Watercolour is the ideal medium to capture the transparent effects of light and mood with sensitivity and it's unpredictability provides an exciting edge to the challenge which, for me, is a large part of the attraction.

Please dont forget to visit my site again as I will be updating with new paintings often.