Angela Charles British, b. 1966

The lure of the coast from Dorset to Cornwall is constant for me. The contrast of the peacefulness of the landscape and the sea alongside its untamed wildness and intensity holds perpetual appeal. The acquisition of a camper van ten years ago made escaping to the sea even easier and has allowed for spontaneous trips both locally to Dorset as well as to Cornwall to develop my work.

My works evolve from my recorded notes about the landscape, the light and the sea. These records act as a catalyst for my paintings which, rather than a direct response to a certain place, represent a memory of a location and the felt experience of being there. However, in some of the works I become so absorbed by the painting process that little is recognisable from the original source.

Working on spray-primed aluminium and wooden boards, which allow for every texture to be my own, I build up layers of sanded-down acrylic. The layers are often wiped away forcefully with cloths or my fists and pierced with marks made by pencils or dentist tools. Through areas of calm and yet moments of frantic mark making, the resulting paintings reveal my sense of awe at the South West coast.'

Born just outside of Brighton in 1966 Angela Charles studied at Worthing College of Art from 1983 - 1986. She then went on to study for a BA Hons in Fine Art (Textiles) at Goldsmiths College, University of London, graduating in 1989.

Angela moved from Brighton to Crewkerne, Somerset in 2001, working part-time as a gallery curator until 2018. As a painter her reputation has grown since first exhibiting in 1989. Her first one-person show was at Sherborne House, Dorset in 2003 and since then she has exhibited throughout the UK.