Jane’s real interest in painting began at the age of 12 with a trip to see Turner at The National Gallery. What followed became, getting a proper job, raising a family and running a smallholding in rural Wales! Finally at 38 Jane enrolled at Pembrokeshire College, Haverfordwest, studying two years full-time for a BTEC National Diploma in Art & Design. She went on to graduate from Winchester School of Art in 1998 with an Honours degree and spent the next few years successfully designing printed textiles for furnishing.

In 1999 after a summer spent in Cornwall, working with the figure and the landscape, Jane moved to Sussex and spent “A Fabulous Year of Fridays!” at the Gardner Arts Centre in Brighton, painting and drawing from life, with tutors Jane Fordham and Tom Benjamin .

That first awakening has grown into a real passion and Jane is now painting full-time from her “beach hut” studio in a beautiful Sussex garden. She held her first Open Studio exhibition as part of Lewes ArtWave in 2000; she has taken part in group exhibitions at Thebes Gallery, Lewes and has been Artist in Residence at Cuckfield Complementary Health Clinic since its move to Naldred Farm, Borde Hill in 2005.

Art has been a way of life for Colin Grimes right from the start, understandable perhaps, as he was born into a family of artists, eight of them including his father Leslie!

Having moved from Surrey to London at the outbreak of war, his father, a political cartoonist, spent much time sketching the effects of the blitz. Colin, at a rather tender age but in the comparative safety of home, made full use of his father’s art materials, for which he was encouraged rather than scolded.

After the war Colin’s brothers attended various art schools, his only sister joined the Ballet Rambert while he worked as a scale model maker for an Industrial Designer. During the fifties he spent much of his free time with the duffel coated, jazz loving art students.  He attended their annual dances, including the Chelsea Arts Ball and thoroughly enjoyed the benefits of a passive art education, without the bother of having to enrol as a student!

In 1953 Colin joined the Film Industry and for the next thirty-eight years progressed from Art Department Assistant to Production Designer. Now in retirement and when life allows, he spends his free time sketching and painting from his home in Sussex.

John Blezard was born in the Lake District, but based himself in London or thereabouts for most of his working life.

He studied Stage Design at the Old Vic Theatre School and designed theatre sets for several years before moving into films. For the next forty years John worked as a production designer in Britain and abroad, making working sketches in watercolour or pen and wash.

After retiring he moved to Kingsdown in Kent and started painting for pleasure. He now exhibits every year from his cottage by the sea, as part of the South East Open Studios.

John paints land and seascapes in watercolour or acrylic. He says he feels most comfortable working in - and recording the soft light and low-key colours of - England. He also likes to sketch when travelling abroad and this exhibition reflects examples of these contrasts.