Judith Yarrow
I studied art at teacher’s training college in Cambridge and then later for a fine art degree at the Mid-Warwickshire College, Leamington Spa. I’ve lived in Chipping Norton for over 30 years.
Based on the walks I do, my work is an exploration of a range of materials and close observation of particular environments, especially the remote but also the intimate.
Each painting feels like an experiment. My work increasingly extends to printmaking and bookmaking. Recently in Lockdown I completed a book – ‘A certain sort of walk’ - of walks local to Chipping Norton with hand drawn maps and constructed from envelopes.
My paintings are inspired by places I know well, especially N. Wales around the Mawddach Estuary and Cadair Idris area. Themes in my work are trees, islands (including Skomer, Faroes, Iceland, Rathlin, Coll, Orkney, Shetland), the wild and remote, looking down from high mountains and cliff tops that give space and height, views of ridges and valleys, far horizons and light and dark.
Recently I’ve worked on themes closer to home – allotments, our beehives, woods, local walks. In the last 18 months I’ve been working in situ on larger drawings and mixed media work, where the work becomes a meditative process of close observation.