Eileen Gledhill lives and paints in a small village in the fells between the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. During her Degree and MA she frequently returned to themes of a ‘sense of place’ and the feelings aroused by engaging directly with wild, rural and coastal landscapes. On ‘discovering’ oil paints she was able to concentrate on capturing the particular ambience of a place, using a variety of techniques to apply and manipulate the paint, depending on the shapes, forms and mood of the subject.

She says “I think many people find that they react strongly to particular landscapes and scenes, but in our hectic lifestyles it can be difficult to give priority to seeking out places that affect us in this way. Painting is a way of attempting to pin down times spent in engaging places, and hopefully share them with others. Each person will view a scene, or a representation of it, with their own fresh eyes and emotions, so each viewer of a work of art gains their own particular response to it and enjoyment of it, and can continue to do so every time they look at it. That is what I love about paintings.”