Local Gallery is the cat’s whiskers

A new artist to the Townhouse Gallery is helping people see animals and hedgerows with fresh eyes.

Liz Chaderton lives and works in a small village in Berkshire, but exhibits her work in galleries around the country. Working mainly in watercolour, her animals are vibrant and full of life. An underlying concern for the environment and our native wild life runs through her colourful paintings.
Inspiration comes from the animals and plants she encounters around her in the fields and hedgerows, growing on the allotment, or living on her (regretfully imaginary) small holding. She says that her aim is to raise a smile and make you see again the animals and flora we so often overlook. By doing so she hopes to nurture a more caring attitude to the wider environment.
The starting point for each picture is something that catches her attention and engages her emotions – a cow’s nose, a pig’s ear, maybe the cat’s whiskers… From there she tries to capture the essence of the subject, rather than the detail, believing that what is left out is just as important as what is put in. Her paintings leave space for your imagination to wander, so are not usually set in a particular time and place.
Traditionally watercolour is painted on paper and because it is fragile has to be displayed under glass. Liz is experimenting with work on specially prepared canvas so that the paintings have a contemporary look and feel. She says: “I aim to capture the spirit of the subject but also create a painting that contains a part of me as well.”
You can see some of Liz’s work at the Townhouse Gallery in Penny Street, Lancaster along with a wide selection of gifts and home ware.

See the magazine article here