Sophie Windham
Sophie is the matriarch of Valley Girl Farm, she is a life long artist who has applied art into every aspect of her life and the farm has been one of her greatest and most magical creations. She is an avid lover of the countryside and a passionate conservationist. Sophie was brought up in the bucolic Gloucestershire countryside which inspired her life long love of nature. She comes from a family of artists, including her mother, the painter Annette de Mestre and her aunt, the painter Rachel Windham. After training at the Byam Shaw and Chelsea Art School in London, she worked for twenty years as a children’s book illustrator and in 1997 was nominated for the Greenaway Medal. During the early years Sophie travelled extensively, living in Venezuela and Los Angeles, where she continued to work and exhibit. In 1994 she moved to the Welsh Borders with her family and for the last decade she has been exhibiting her work in Hay on Wye and London. She has works in private collections in America, Australia, Europe and Venezuela.
Our art retreats are held in our recently renovated barn studio. All sessions are guided by professional local artists who are experienced teachers and each have a unique style. The sessions are purely for joy. There is no judgement or pressure, beginners to professionals are welcome.
MEET YOUR ARTISTS
Georgie Richardson is a contemporary painter working from her home studio, surrounded by her garden, fields, and woodland in the foothills of the Black Mountains that border England and Wales. Her work is intimate, fresh, and joyous, celebrating the natural world through creative observation.
"I obtained my Fine Art Degree in Painting from Winchester School of Art, graduating in 1996. Since then, I have predominantly been raising my family in Dorset and Herefordshire, where we still live, very much off the beaten track. My focus has been on painting mostly what surrounds me. While not painting, when my children were little, I would always create gardens, patches of annual flowers, and vegetable plots wherever I was allowed. These became my canvases, and my intention was always to paint what grew there. I am now doing just that and love the accidental compositions that occur. Intrusive weeds become quite interesting to my painterly mind. My painting explores the passing of time and the transience of life. Flowers as a subject capture this ephemeral nature and, I believe, deserve attention. Domestic objects that transcend time to perform daily, unassuming tasks—feeding us, holding life—also interest me. My process always starts with drawing. From there, I prefer to work quite intuitively and freely, hoping to keep a fresh feel to the work."
A note from Sophie:
Georgie is a local friend. She is a lovely, warm and enthusiastic person and will make your mornings fun and inspiring. She will bring bunches of colourful flowers and vegetables from her own beautiful garden. Alongside the flowers she will provide decorative vases and jugs that you can make your own arrangements in and then paint them with her guidance and ideas. If the weather permits she may take you to paint in my garden. The aim is to return home with your finished piece of art.
https://georgierichardsonart.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooERMJVxifrYQ_PFD2uFIYpDvTU-8lCADqnfLGIyaccPsr0xgT5
Anthea Stilwell: Anthea studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford then taught art at Harrow School for twenty five years. She now lives and works in Herefordshire. Her subject matter is wide-ranging, colourful, often abstract or semi abstract, always built on drawing and using memory and imagination. She paints with oils mostly and sometimes acrylic and watercolour; sometimes she uses mixed media.
“My paintings are mostly about colour. They are always painted from a mixture of drawings, memory and partly from my imagination. My subject matter varies and is usually taken from landscape, flowers or people and some work is abstract. I paint a lot from memory as it allows me to experiment more and play with colour and not be ruled by what is actually there. I love painting and sharing ideas with other artists.”
A note from Sophie:
Anthea is a very close friend. She is inspirational and has a wealth of experience due to 25 years of teaching. She is full of so much knowledge and skill, and I have learnt immensely from her. I love her techniques like; drawing with the non-dominant hand, drawing without looking at the paper, quick 2 min sketching and using all sorts of mediums. She offers guided sessions including life drawing, with our professional and wonderful model Annie, still life and collage. These classes are to be decided by the guests before the retreat begins.
