Rachel Lockwood
I've always thought I am one of the luckiest people alive as I am able to make my living by doing what I love the most - painting. Born in Sheffield, I went Psalter Lane Art School, then Middlesex University, where for a reason I didn't fully understand at time, I studied Scientific and Medical illustration. Since then I've worked with publishers, advertising agencies and galleries. I've also managed a fair bit of travelling, including a year in Australia and a year in Holland.
Fifteen years ago I moved to Norfolk, then in 2005 I moved up to the North Norfolk coast to the beautiful village of Cley next the Sea, where I now paint full-time. I've travelled quite widely around the world but I find this small part of It as amazing as any I've been to; with reedbeds fringing the north sea, big open skies and beaches, waterways and large clumps of forest with a variety of wildlife, such as my favourite deer. Living in this environment has allowed me to soak it up and observe it through all the seasons, all weathers and through all it's tempestuous moods of flood and drought. I'm becoming more aware of the the cycle of wildlife: migration, birth etc and fitting my year around the the natural series of events that occur in the wildlife calendar, Naturally this has all become the inspiration for much of my work.
Another added bonus is Norfolk's large amount of waterways. I've always been fascinated, even mesmerised by water. It's a subject that I'm drawn to again and again in my painting. I'm surrounded by a lot of it here in Cley, and knowing that I can run outside and catch that moment when the perfect-shaped cloud just happens to cast its reflection across the water it priceless to me. Being here, on the edge of Cley Marsh Reserve, allows me to indulge my passion even further.
My time at university studying scientific illustration put me in good stead for understanding animal anatomy and movement (so that's why I went there!). If I'm not painting, my other passion is observing wildlife. I've tried all sorts of subterfuge to get close, from Heath-Robinsoneque hides, to ridiculous all in one camouflage suits, but to be honest, I find that my car is the best hide. I have a few favourite hotspots on my doorstep for animal watching, luckily I can watch hares and deer only five minutes away, not to mention the menagerie of animals that live around my studio.
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