Gemma Waters

The natural world is woven into every aspect of my life and I have been immersed in the world of living things since my childhood. Nature sparks my curiosity, inspires me with its colours, movement and textures. Nature shows us resilience and strength but is at the same time precious and fragile.

Spending time in the landscape and amongst wildlife is a basic need for me and strongly feeds into my artistic practice. I try to convey my connection and love of nature through my paintings; trying to capture beauty, illuminate colour and portrait complexity. When I complete work outside, changing conditions in the landscape due to light and weather, the beings that inhabit it, all feed into the work.

There are absences in the places I walk, observe and draw. Fields, woodland and rivers that were once filled with bird song, paws scampering, the glimmer of an insect wing. I seek out the places where precious life hangs on and then create my own image of it. A statement of hope for life, not extinction.