Gallery Artist
Annie Ovenden
Annie Ovenden
“My early childhood was spent in a tiny village in, what was then, deepest Buckinghamshire. It was just after the war so there were no amenities or council playgrounds, instead our play-time was spent amongst the beech tree avenues, the horse chestnut clumps and the fruit tree orchards. Trees were our climbing frames, our swings, our hiding places and even at times out tuck shops. The big chestnut tree (which still bears my initials carved into its bark) by the telephone box was the village notice board and meeting place. The town bus stopped by it once a week and Sergeant Brown the local Bobby stood under that chestnut on a Friday evening. Such early memories are responsible, I’m guessing, for imprinting me with the love of trees.”
Works
Biography
“When I was seven years old my Mother was seriously ill, and I was bundled off to stay with an Aunt, I recall my Mother saying to this Aunt “Ann likes to paint” – so I must have started young. It was and is still true today – I do like to paint.
I moved to Cornwall in 1973. In 1975 Sir Peter Blake asked me to join The Ruralists. With the six other members I exhibited in just about every corner of Britain from village halls to City Museums including London’s Tate Gallery until 2007, when we had our last show together at Horsham Museum.
I have now lived in Cornwall for 50 years and I have enjoyed documenting the landscape and trees near where I live. I’m attracted to the way the light dances across them and the patterns they create. These rhythms and the stories they tell are what I try to portray in my work.”
Principal Exhibitions
1990 Emblems of Enchantment, Silk Top Hat Gallery, Ludlow, Shropshire.
1994 Plymouth Art Centre, Devon.
1994 White Lane Gallery, Plymouth, Devon.
1996 Bearnes, Exeter, Devon.
1997 San Carlos, Highgate, London.
1999 Mid-Cornwall Gallery, Cornwall. February 1999
2000 The Beech Tree 1999-2000. The Phoenix Centre, Exeter, Devon.
2000 The Rilla Mill Tree. Sterts Centre, Liskeard, Cornwall.
2003 Portraits of a Village Community. Sterts Centre, Cornwall.
2005 Recent Paintings. The Gallery, Cork Street, London.
2006 Four Visions. The Gallery, Cork Street, London.
2007 Silvan Spirits. The Gallery, Cork Street, London.
2007 Recent paintings and Drawings. Twenty Twenty Gallery, Much Wenlock, Shropshire.
2010 Recent paintings and Drawings. Twenty Twenty Gallery, Much Wenlock, Shropshire.
2010 London International Art Fair. Clerkenwell Fine Art.
2010 The British Vision. Clerkenwell Fine Art. London.
2010 London International Art Fair. Clerkenwell Fine Art.
2010 The British Vision. Clerkenwell Fine Art. London.
2010 London International Art Fair. Clerkenwell Fine Art.
2010 The British Vision. Clerkenwell Fine Art. London.
2011 British Landscapes. Red Rag Gallery, Bath
2011 British Landscapes. Red Rag Gallery, Bath
2011 The British Vision. Clerkenwell Fine Art. London
2011 London International Art Fair. Clerkenwell Fine Art.
2012 Recent paintings and Drawings. Twenty Twenty Gallery, Much Wenlock, Shropshire.
2012 Catto Gallery, Hampstead, London
2013 British Landscapes. Red Rag Gallery, Bath
2013 Viewpoint Twenty Twenty Gallery, Much Wenlock, Shropshire.
2014 The British Vision V. Clerkenwell Fine Art. Castle Cary
2014 Viewpoint Twenty Twenty Gallery, Much Wenlock, Shropshire.
2014 Look Exhibition, Bodmin, Cornwall
2015 Catto Gallery Hampstead
2016 On Group Exhibition. Rock. Cornwall
2017 On Group Exhibition. Dower House Gallery, Lostwithiel, Cornwall
2018 Tree Artists Exhibition. Dower House Gallery, Lostwithiel, Cornwall
2019 The Romantics Exhibition. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
2019 Small Is Beautiful Exhibition. Catto Gallery, Hampstead, London
2020 The Seasons: Art of the Unfolding Year. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
2020 Patterns of Friendship. Twenty Twenty. Ludlow, Shropshire
2021 The Art Of The Eerie. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington
20/21 Art Fair. Clerkenwell Fine Art. London
2022 The Arborealists. Artmill Gallery. Plymouth, Devon
2022 Grow The Wonder Exhibition. Primrose Hill, London
2023 Catto Gallery. Hampstead, London
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