W+G Artists

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BIOGRAPHIES OF ARTISTS & PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE W&G COLLECTION It is not always possible to acquire detailed biographical information. Many artists and photographers are very private individuals and prefer to let their paintings or photographs speak for themselves. However, we have attempted to provide a brief guide to the lives of many of these talented people and to give an insight into their work which we hope you will find interesting.

ROSEMARY ABRAHAMS

PETER ADAMS

Having studied painting at Leeds College of Art in the 60s, Rosemary has in the last decade returned to both the north of England, and to the full time pursuit of her first love, painting. Her career as a painter has for many years run parallel to her other activity, that of leading a design studio with a worldwide client base.

A 2003 winner of Travel Photographer of the Year, and a 2004 judge, Peter Adams spends much of the year travelling. The majority of his images are used in calendars, books and websites.

While she continues to provide a design service for a select group of clients, her commitment and creativity is now devoted to her painting. The work has developed along two quite distinct paths, one with a strong figurative base, the other exploring purely colour and formal relationships, while sharing many common elements. Landscape has always provided a strong influence and source of inspiration to Rosemary, recording the landscape of each of the locations in which she has lived and also many through which she has travelled. The other strand of Rosemary’s painting follows the abstract route, exemplified by the use of simple shapes to balance the composition, and where the major concerns are with surface, colour saturation, texture, proportion, line, and tone. The result is a body of work with discernable common features, but which manifests infinite variety in its realisation. The scale of the work encompasses the ‘public’, with canvasses of over 2m through to intimate pieces, intense visual statements of no more than 15cm square. The surface of the work is enriched by the use of a thick gesso ground which can be incised to create line work, and which permits the application of both colour washes, and saturated colour. The pieces are further enriched by the application of metal foils, and pearlescent pigments. Abrahams cites as influences Ben Nicholson, Terry Frost, the St Ives School, acknowledging Tapies, and the New York School of Rothko, and Rauschenberg. She continues the tradition of abstract expressionism into todays art world.

In terms of which images sell, Adams recognises that travel shots involving people do well for him, if only because they tend to be more unique than an icon like the Eiffel Tower or Taj Mahal. “They’re one-offs that are not going to be imitated,” he reasons. “I love the idea of leaving my cameras behind in the hotel and just going for a wander,” he says “but I’m paranoid that if I do there will be an amazing shot just round the corner that I’ll miss. Also, your first impressions are the strongest so you need to capture the things that are different straightaway, before it becomes familiar.” As well as covering specific scenes and subjects that are likely to be the core stock sellers, look for more unusual subjects - details, patterns, abstracts and so on; things that have visual appeal as well as being symbolic of a place. More and more picture buyers look for less obvious images. “There are no real rules,” says Peter. “I don’t believe in overly examining past sales lists as many photographers do, because I feel I’d just end up repeating myself. Iconic images can sell well, but there are lots of good ones out there already. I think the key is to get a breadth of images. I like to take generic images that sum up a place, but I also try and shoot people because those pictures are individual and can’t be easily copied. I can’t really tell what will sell. Maybe there is one thing on a trip that you know is going to be successful, but I just go along looking for good pictures; for images that please me.” MEL ALLEN Living and working in London as a professional photographer, Mel shoots a wide range of commercial projects for both British and foreign clients. His still life work often involves everyday objects that have been treated in such a way that it provides the viewer with a different perspective. When the pressures of commercial work are over, Mel’s love of photography will have him straight back into the studio shooting for his own personal

Peter Adams


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W+G Artists by Vertical-7 Ltd. - Issuu