Contemporary painter, Laura Middleton captures the essence of her surrounds. Her oil and mixed media works have a recurring theme depicting local rivers and ponds found in the Cotswold landscape. Born in South Yorkshire, Laura studied illustration and graphic design at the University of West of England and has spent many years working as a specialist decorator.
The Oxfordshire landscape fuels Laura’s portfolio as she draws threads through the likes of Rousham, Port Meadow, Blenheim and Asthall Manor regularly. The untamed banks of rivers and lakes dominate her viewpoint as she sketches and photographs scenes that she will then paint back in the studio.
Laura’s paintings are built up of several layers. Firstly the gesso provides a chalky surface on which she uses charcoal and inks to lay out the structure of the landscape. On top, the oils have an abstract fluidity where the landscape’s details are blurred into the essence of a place – the self’s immersion into the environment.