Featured Artist Gill Tomlinson

Artist Gill Tomlinson uniquely captures the bright sunshine and a slower way of life in Greece through her mixed media watercolors. Learn more about this artist by visiting her website.

 

 

I’m an English artist with a home and studio in an agricultural village in a beautiful part of southwest Greece. My art is infused and inspired by my long-term infatuation with the colour, light and quirkiness of everyday life in Greece and the sunny Mediterranean.

 

 

Crumbly old buildings, decorative metalwork, whitewashed plaster, geraniums in earthenware pots and jaunty fishing boats populate my paintings, which are cheerfully evocative of long, hot summer days and the deep blue of the Aegean.

 

 

Most of my work begins with a drawing—often on location in remote hillside villages or down by the harbour amongst the fishing boats. I absolutely love the drawn line, as well as colour and pattern, all of which I employed on a daily basis in my former life as a textile designer of printed fabrics in London.

 

 

Linework features in my current obsession, a recently completed series of 100 “Postcards from Greece.” These are small, mixed-media paintings created on vintage postcards. For the basis of the story, I source postcards with original handwriting which were sent from Greece between the 1950’s and the 1990’s.

 

 

We can glimpse poignant words written long ago between friends, in the early days of tourism in Greece and the islands. Beautiful old drachma postage stamps and wonky date stamps are left visible where possible. Line drawings, fragments of Greek text, acrylic inks and artistic license complete the transformation of the postcards into multi-layered, evocative, original artwork.

 

 

This project is so compelling, I can’t seem to stop at one hundred pieces, so will continue as long as I feel inspired to create these little altered postcard paintings. When complete, the originals are mounted with the back side left open, so people can view the photograph on the ‘front’ of the postcard.

 

 

With the help of my graphic designer husband, the postcard-paintings are scanned and carefully prepared for enlargement. They are then professionally printed as high quality giclées on stretched cotton canvas, as well as on watercolour paper. The canvases have been especially popular. It’s really exciting to see all the little details and bits of text suddenly more visible at the dramatically larger scale!

 

 

My goal with this project is to push the creative process further by working on much larger originals, whilst still combining elements of the postcards with collage, image transfer and acrylics. This new work will be featured in an August Exhibition in England and a July Exhibition in Greece.

 

 

When not making and exhibiting my own art, I love teaching and inspiring creativity in others. I run tailor-made art holidays from my studio in Greece,  with tuition for small private groups as well as one-on-one instruction. The Koroni Art Experience is a complete creative immersion, tailored to each individual’s specifications, combined with a relaxing summer holiday in a beautiful, unspoiled corner of Greece.

 

 

Going forward, I want to keep making art which makes my heart sing, and to reach more people who love my work. I hope to continue to inspire others through both my art and my creative holidays.

 

Artist Gill Tomlinson invites you to follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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