The latest artist to feature on the Art Wall at Rye Harbour Discovery Centre is Anna Wilson-Patterson. Rye News went to meet her, teaching art in a wild garden at Winchelsea Beach.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born in 1968 and grew up in South Wales, near the beach at Ogmore-by-Sea. My favourite childhood activity was colouring in. I graduated from Manchester and Leicester with a History of Design degree and a Post Graduate Teaching Certificate in Art and Design Education. I moved to Brighton in 1992 to manage a Latin American shop, before working for many years as a community worker. In 2007 my husband and I opened an art
gallery in Herstmonceux, selling my paintings and work by 64 local makers.
Describe your relationship with Rye Harbour Nature Reserve?
We discovered the reserve by accident in 2010 whilst looking for a greyhound-friendly holiday cottage. ‘Tamarix’, an oxide red stained bungalow on the Ridge, Winchelsea Beach was the exact colour of the wooden sun room in my childhood home. Iridescent pheasants and well-fed rabbits populated its vast shingle garden, where sumac trees turned a
brilliant orange. The view from the lounge overlooked the western edge of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve; magical, desolate and peaceful.
Just a few crunchy steps away we found the beautiful deserted beach and well worn teasel fringed pathways which led to roaming herdwick sheep and goats. We made frequent return trips and in 2013 moved to Fairlight Cove. The coastline of Rye Bay has inspired my paintings ever since.
I’ve exhibited my paintings with Morgan and Peter Greenhalf of the Avocet Gallery, Rye Harbour for a decade. They are very active Friends of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve (FRHNR). I was delighted to have a painting included in their fundraising publication The Shingle Shore. In 2021 three of my paintings were selected to be part of their Poetry
Trail on the nature reserve which was great fun and included in their book New Ways Of Looking.
Tell us about Anna’s Art School?
A few years ago I started teaching adults art in the Rye Harbour Sailing Club and in private homes on the Ridge, Winchelsea Beach. I now run a monthly Saturday and Wednesday class in the two-acre wild garden home of Margot Crosby-Jones on Morlais Ridge.
The garden includes the former Gopsall Pottery workshop, hence one of my favourite subjects are paintings of flowers in the dotty pots Mike Crosby-Jones made. In his final years he constructed a lot of quirky outbuildings. I like to think he’d be impressed that the workshop and wild garden provide us with so much inspiration each month.
Describe your artistic process?
My process of creating a coastal painting starts with walking, looking, listening and absorbing the sensations on a particular day. Back in my Fairlight studio I work on wood panels, using water-mixable oil colours, gradually building up the layers using painting knives. My gestures of adding, dragging and removing paint imitate the natural world, the tidal ebb and flow, the movement of clouds and wind. Greyhounds and lurchers appear often, as do foxes, rabbits, gulls and flower fringes.
What do you enjoy most about being an artist?
I enjoy finding inspiring places to paint and creating the images. Then witnessing the emotional responses in others. I have the loveliest customers who send me supportive emails. One of them said a painting he bought had “touched his heart”, that’s very satisfying.
And the downsides?
Unreliable income streams and customers who leave their hound commissions to the last minute. Oil paint dries very slowly in the winter months.
How do you feel about having your work on The Art Wall inside Rye
Harbour Discovery Centre?
It’s very exciting to see the paintings there being seen by so many people. I selected nine pieces including smaller still life paintings of the Gopsall Pottery, seaside flower fringes and iconic landmarks such as the Red Hut, plus some of the many greyhounds and lurchers I’ve met whilst out walking. 50% of sales go towards the reserve, which I’m
delighted to support. I’ll be posting a visual diary of my time there on Instagram and Facebook.
What are the dates and times for visitors?
The Art Wall is a permanent feature inside Rye Harbour Discovery Centre, which is open daily 10am – 4pm. My paintings will be exhibited until 30th November 2022 and I’ll be there in person on November 12 & 13 at the Makers Market.
Image Credits: Kt bruce .