Chris Thomas

Roughtor II

Roughtor II oil on board 48 x 48" 2007

The Derelect Social hall, Davdstow II oil on board 60 x 60” 2008

The Derelect Social hall, Davdstow II oil on board 60 x 60" 2008

Chris Thomas has spent the past 30 years making paintings of the cottage and village where he lives, on a dramatic stretch of the North Cornwall coast between Boscastle and Tintagel.

The works produced are evocative and intense, recording corners of his garden, the surrounding fields, cliffs and the sea in all weathers and seasons, often using an easel cemented into the ground. More recently he has aquired a van in which the paintings can be transported up to Bodmin Moor, hooked onto the outside and worked on site.

Chris Thomas is also represented by the Brian Sinfield Gallery, and more works are available to view on www.christhomas.info

EDUCATION

1972-3 Postgraduate Degree in Art Psychotherapy, Hertfordshire School of Art
1965-9 Fine Art, Reading University

AWARDS

1969 David Murray Landscape Award

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2007 Brian Sinfield Galllery, Burford, Oxfordshire

2006 Brian Sinfield Galllery, Burford, Oxfordshire
2003 Retrospective, Gaia Centre, Delabole and Camelford Gallery, Cornwall
1998 Gallery in Der Gartenhaus, Rheda, Wiedenbruck
1997 Plymouth Art Centre
1992 Fisher Gallery, Wadebridge, Cornwall
1986 Falmouth School of Art

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS

2006 RWA Autumn exhibition
2005 Newlyn Group Show, selected by Nicholas Usherwood
2003 Jerwood Drawing Prize, selected finalist
2000 Centenary exhibition, Falmouth Art Gallery
2000-5 Camelford Gallery
1998-1 Plain Street gallery, North cornwall
1997 The North Cornwall Seven, Bideford Art Centre
1997 The North Cornwall Seven, Fisher Galelry, Wadebridge
1996 Gallery in der Gartenhouse, Rheda wiedenbruck
1996 Atrium Gallery, London
1996 The North Cornwall Seven, Truro City Art Gallery
1995-8 Glstonbury Festival, The Green Field
1995 The North cornwall Seven, Falmouth Art Gallery
1995 Sterts Open, Cornwall
1994 The North Cornwall seven, Fisher Gallery, Wadebridge
1993 Bridgewater Art Centre, with henry Israel, Caeria Strong, Rosalind Eastman
1993-5 Chapel Gallery, Saltram House, Plymout
1993-5 North Cornwall Museum, Camelford, with Rosalind Eastman
1992 Cheltenham School of Art, with Ray Atkins
1991 South West Open
1991 White Lane Gallery, Plymouth
1990 The London Group Show
1989 Skulpturenpark, Willabadessen, Germany (invited artist)
1989 Plymouth Society of Artists
1988 The London Group Show, RCA (invited artist)
1986 Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, Somerset
1984 Dunheved Gallery, Launceston, with Kurt Jackson
1980 North Cornwall museum, Camelford
1979 Tintagel Arts Festival
1979 North Cornwall Museum, Camelford, with Rosalind Eastman
1979 Westward TV Open Art
1970 Reading University Library, with Rosalind Eastman

PUBLICATIONS

Foundation Course Drawing, Anita Taylor and Paul Thomas, Cassel, 2003

Gales Blowing Up Over Trevalga oil on board 48 x 96"

Gales Blowing Up Over Trevalga oil on board 48 x 96"

Find Us

Find Us

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About the Gallery

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The Padstow Studio is an artist-run space, opened in 2006 by the landscape painter Sarah Adams, whose studio occupies the second floor of the building. The gallery below exhibits Sarah’s own work and that of a circle of friends, artists who she has studied with, shown with or shared studio space with over the years.

The gallery exhibits a constantly changing selection of contemporary paintings, drawings, ceramics and works in bronze, and aims to give visitors the opportunity to engage with and follow the development of individuals who interest them.

Not everyone the gallery shows is based in Cornwall, and most of the group are also represented by well-established galleries elsewhere. For further information about individual artists, please click on their names, and follow the links to their own websites.

Purchasing from us

We accept most major credit and debit cards, cheques and BACS transfers.

Although the gallery is not part of a formal hire purchase scheme, we are always happy to discuss purchase by installments, should that be required. All works are safely stored at the gallery until the balance is paid.

Delivery

Small and medium size works can generally be carried away at time of purchase. We are also happy to pack and send small pieces by Royal Mail Special Delivery at no extra charge.

Large and medium works can be delivered a specialist art carrier. We cover the cost of most deliveries within the UK mainland if the purchase price is over £1,000 (excluding some parts of Scotland).

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James Campbell

James Campbell, 'Wind at sunset', jug

James Campbell, ‘Wind at sunset’, jug


James Campbell graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1964. His ceramic pieces have been widely exhibited, and he is represented in major public collections in the UK, Australia and Japan. ‘A pot decorated with a drawing is something of a paradox. They have different terms of reference and are in different languages, and bringing them together in a way that works is an exciting challenge. I try to make the form strong enough in its own right to hold the drawing, to be muscular and even dynamic. too much movement, however, would make it an incompatible partner, so there is a balance to be struck. The drawing must not overwhelm the shape, but at the same time it must have a content of its own and be more than decoration.’

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Mark Cazalet

'Christmas Woods', chalk on paper, 67 x 102 cm

‘Christmas Woods’, chalk on paper, 67 x 102 cm


Mark Cazalet is based in London and Suffolk, and works in a wide range of media from painting, drawing and printmaking, to large-scale architectural and ecclesiastical projects in stained glass and other materials. He has also produced images for several limited edition books. His paintings often reflect his experience of the city in which he lives, from the parks, cemeteries and playing fields to the canals, gas installations and flyovers of West London. His pictures are evocative and personal responses to an urban landscape that becomes almost pastoral; a promised land of quiet havens and open spaces. In contrast, towering concrete and metal structures are rendered with a dynamic, cathedral-like elegance.

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Kit Surrey

Kit Surrey, 'Rock Faces IV, Craig yr Creigwyr, St.David's Head, North Pembrokeshire', charcoal and pencil

Kit Surrey, ‘Rock Faces IV, Craig yr Creigwyr, St.David’s Head, North Pembrokeshire’, charcoal and pencil


Kit Surrey is an artist and freelance theatre designer, who has worked with many major theatre companies, including the RSC, Sheffield Crucible and Bristol Old Vic. His fine art practice explores significant landscapes through drawing, particularly in places he loves to walk or climb. He has been among the prize winners at the Society of Fine and Graphic Arts a number of times.

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Paul Thomas

Paul Thomas, 'Apollo and Daphne V', pastel and pencil, 56 x 76 cm

Paul Thomas, ‘Apollo and Daphne V’, pastel and pencil, 56 x 76 cm


Paul Thomas currently divides his time between Australia and Europe, exhibiting and lecturing. The work he has been making reflects this cultural diversity in drawings and paintings that explore shared mythologies and narratives. Having recently finished a series of drawings that dealt with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, he is now working with the diverse flora and fauna of Australia. He has also published several artist’s books.
paulthomaspaintings.co.uk

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Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas, 'Children playing around the tree', oil on board, 120 x 120 cm

Chris Thomas, ‘Children playing around the tree’, oil on board, 120 x 120 cm


Chris Thomas was one of only six finalists shortlisted for this year’s Columbia Threadneedle Prize, the most important national award for representational painting. He is a true painter’s painter, hugely respected by his peers. His home on the North Cornwall coast has dominated his work over the past 40 years, making paintings of his family, corners of the garden, surrounding fields, cliffs and the sea in all weathers and seasons, using a rigorous observational process.
christhomas.info

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Anita Taylor

Anita Taylor, 'Breeze', charcoal on paper, 120 x 89 cm

Anita Taylor, ‘Breeze’, charcoal on paper, 120 x 89 cm


Anita Taylor is an artist, educator and exhibition organiser, currently Dean of Bath School of Art & Design at Bath Spa University and Director of the prestigious Jerwood Drawing Prize.  Her work is figurative, and explores identity, emotion and narrative through tableaux and interactions which are at once highly theatrical, but also intimate and symbolic.  The recipient of many awards and prizes for painting and drawing, she has taken on increasingly demanding academic roles while still actively pursuing her own studio work.
drawingprojects.co.uk

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Alison Pullen

Alison Pullen, 'The Master Bedroom at Prideaux Place', collage

Alison Pullen, ‘The Master Bedroom at Prideaux Place’, collage


Alison Pullen studied Illustration at the Royal College of Art, and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. Alison is particularly known for her collaged interiors, from contemporary domestic settings to public spaces and stately homes, and she completed a one year residency at Osterley Park House, which remains a favorite subject. 
alisonpullen.com

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Michael Porter

Michael Porter, 'Beside the Path 01-07-14', acrylic and oil on paper, 43 x 39 cm

Michael Porter, ‘Beside the Path 01-07-14’, acrylic and oil on paper, 43 x 39 cm


Michael Porter is a landscape painter whose work concentrates primarily on fragments of earth beneath our feet. They often incorporate many layers of paint giving the impression of looking through and into undergrowth, highlighting various aspects of nature that are so often overlooked, the odd feather, a collection of stones or fallen leaves. There is a sense of discovery in the work, objects reveal themselves slowly as one scans the surface and gradually becomes aware of the literally painted objects concealed under layers of paint.
michael-porter.co.uk

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Philip Naylor

Phil Naylor, 'Stratamatic', etching, 56 x 76 cm

Phil Naylor, ‘Stratamatic’, etching, 56 x 76 cm


Philip Naylor is Senior Lecturer at University College Falmouth, Program Leader Foundation and Award Leader BA Drawing. He studied under Tim Mara as a postgraduate at Chelsea School of Art, and has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. He makes drawings and etchings about landscape, and is particularly drawn to edgelands, reconstructing the landscape with contour lines, geological references and artifacts. ‘I look for sparse areas with ambiguities of scale, places that raise questions about spatial perception and our relationship with open spaces, reclaimed and re-lost marginal land where struggles with nature take place, rocky and reluctant landscapes, eroded areas showing their underlying histories.’

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Anne Howeson
Anne Howeson, 'Different Journeys', crayon, gouache, mixed media, 46 x 55 cm

Anne Howeson, ‘Different Journeys’, crayon, gouache, mixed media, 46 x 55 cm

Anne Howeson studied at St Martins School of Art and the RCA, and currently lectures at the RCA. Based in London, the main focus of her work is urban, weaving historical records and images and her own experience of the city into atmospheric drawings that bring past and present together. Anne is a Jerwood Drawing Prize winner, and has exhibited widely.
annehoweson.com

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Lynn Golden

Lynn Golden, 'St Just Churchyard', pastel

Lynn Golden, ‘St Just Churchyard’, pastel


Lynn Golden trained at St Albans School of Art before moving to Cornwall in 1976, where the effects of light and weather on coastal landscape became the focus for her work. Particularly known for working in pastel, she makes many of her pieces on site. Still life pieces, and larger acrylic paintings are produced in the studio. More recently, Lynn has experimented with metal leaf, egg tempera and other media on board, extending her exploration of light, form and composition.
lynngolden.co.uk

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Mo Farquharson

Mo Farquharson, 'Street 4', bronze

Mo Farquharson, ‘Street 4’, bronze


Mo Farquharson is well known for her sculptures of people, animals and birds. Beautifully observed, they have a warmth that communicates the character of her subjects in an engaging and often playful way. Context is central to her work, particularly in the figurative series where, centered around a park bench or bus stop, the attitude and preoccupation of each individual is explored. The same sympathy and attention to detail is applied to Mo’s wildlife pieces, rendered in a style that is natural and spontaneous, but always carefully considered. She generally casts her work in bronze, in small editions (of generally no more than 7 pieces) using the lost wax process.
mofarquharson.com 

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Rosalind Eastman

'Rocks off Trevalga Cliffs', watercolour

‘Rocks off Trevalga Cliffs’, watercolour


Rosalind Eastman studied Fine Art at Reading University, and was awarded a David Murray Landscape Painting Scholarship from the Royal Academy in 1969. She met her husband, the painter Chris Thomas, when they were students at Reading, and they moved to North Cornwall a couple of years later.  Her paintings document the coastal landscape around her home, an environment she has come to know over the past 45 years.

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Rachel Budd

Rachel Budd, 'Cool of the forest'

Rachel Budd, ‘Cool of the forest’, oil on canvas, 132 x 137 cm


Rachel Budd graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1986, and has won a number of awards, including the Henry Moore Prize at the London Group Show and the Mark Rothko Memorial Trust Fund.  She generally works in oil on canvas. ‘My work can be seen as a diary, depicting little snippets of colour and detail which come to rest in my head. Often I am unaware of their presence until I paint. Since moving to Cornwall a year ago, my focus (both detailed and broad) is daily renewed by my surroundings. I am inspired by windy skies, ever changing light on ever changing ochre and green hills, and where the sea meets the sky.’

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Kim Bentley

'Snap Happy on Constantine', embroidery and fabric paint on silk taffeta, 16 x 21 cm

‘Snap Happy on Constantine’, embroidery and fabric paint on silk taffeta, 16 x 21 cm


Kim Bentley co-founded the design partnership Bentley & Spens, with Sally Spens, shortly after they graduated from Goldsmiths College. Their work is represented in the V & A Museum, and they have created fabrics for many other fashion and interiors collections, including Paul Smith and Liberty. Kim’s textile pieces are now inspired by people-watching on the beach, and combine embroidery and fabric paint on a silk taffeta base. Kim is based in Padstow, and often sits in the gallery, stitching away behind the desk.

kimbentley.me

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Sue Beattie

'Fien, 96 years old', bronze, 10 cm

‘Fien, 96 years old’, bronze, 10 cm


Sue Beattie is based in Assen, in Holland. Working directly from the figure, her pieces are beautifully observed and sensitive studies, initially worked in wax then cast in bronze by a lost wax process. Sue often works within a group of sculptors, regularly sharing a model and studio space. This has been a very productive working atmosphere for her, and has led to an increasingly complex and ambitious use of the figure in her work.

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