Liberty Gallery features many new and inspiring local artists, 2 of which live in Kings Hill. They are Evelyn Chambers and Val Ray whom each donated a piece of work to raise money for Demelza House at the Art and Soul Fine Art Auction, proving a successful and rewarding evening, raising £20,000 for the Hospice!
Let's meet the artists from Kings Hill...
Evelyn Chambers
Evelyn Chambers at Art & Soul preview evening, September 2009, with her painting Ponies.
Evelyn spent almost all her early life in Essex and Kent, most of her childhood being spent on livestock farms. She studied for a Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Merit) at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in 1990.
Her style is largely expressionist and is interested in the Fauves, German Expressionists and early Renaissance painters. In some of her work she explores a series of paintings based on the absurd and surreal, which followed a visit to Prater Park in Vienna, an experience which was both sinister and comic.
She is also interested in landscape and equine painting, and the difficulty of avoiding cliché in this genre as well as trying to invest her work with a sense of place. Evelyn has exhibited in Lodon and Kent including the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Museums and Art Galleries.
Val Ray
Val Ray at Art & Soul preview evening, September 2009, with her painting Hot Afternoon, Montepulciano (gouache)
Born in Maidstone, Kent, Val has a strong affinity with the landscapes and flora of the county, and many of her paintings have been inspired by her visits to Kent’s most beautiful private houses and gardens.
The light and colours of Mediterranean countries, especially Italy, influence Val's work, suggesting colourful subjects for mixed media. She has a strong interest in design and texture, and is always looking for new ways in which to express her ideas.
Val works in watercolour, gouache, mixed media and collage and paints a wide range of subjects, including flower studies, st reet scenes, landscapes and the human figure in both traditional and semi-abstract form. She is a Full Member of the Society of Floral Painters.
Val has exhibited at South East Open Studios, local art societies and other venues in Kent. She is represented by Liberty Gallery and has sold paintings in the UK, US and Canada. Much of her work is available as greeting cards.
Val's work, including Hot Afternoon Montepulciano and Anemones White (see below), was featured in a series of articles in The Artist Magazine in March, April and June 2009 on how the computer can help the artist.
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