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Anyone who wants to understand the person and art of Lucy Willis cannot avoid one figure: the grandfather of the painter, who was born in 1954. H. M. Bateman was a famous English draftsman, cartoonist and caricaturist before he turned to painting at the age of 40. At the height of his fame, he wanted to explore new fields, to become a "real artist." Light and shadow, perspective and movement, as his granddaughter also knows how to capture him in a magnificent way in her watercolors, Bateman explored henceforth in the countryside and during trips to the island of Gozo.
Gozo, the second largest Maltese island, also became a destination and source of inspiration for Lucy Willis years later. It was here that the famous grandfather had spent the last years of his life. Here Lucy Willis wanted to visit places that she had discovered on undated pictures of the grandfather artistically transposed. Lucy Willis is a master at capturing weather and light conditions in her works. Whether on Gozo, in Aleppo, Jerusalem or in Bombay: Always communicates to the viewer the immediate feeling that the artist had in these places in view of majestic architecture and nature or special lighting conditions. Of course! For Willis knows that it is not only the composition of a painting that counts. It is light and shadow, contrasts actually, that make a painting visually accessible and interesting in terms of content. At the same time, wind and weather, sun, rain or clouds are always just snapshots. To capture them artistically requires skill and speed, close attention and exact implementation.
Lucy Willis, who in 1972 as a student of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford made a fantastic self-portrait of herself, nowadays prefers to choose her motifs from nature and architecture. Light-flooded scenes in the south, such as Tunisia or Israel, sublime mosques and fortifications: all watercolors bear witness to the human gaze and feeling that the artist has for her surroundings. Delicacy of color and intensity of light play a role in Willis' work, as do motifs that describe everyday life, such as a wheelbarrow, animals, or fruits on a plate inviting us to eat. Furthermore, it is the elements that move the artist. Water and its reflections, the sky with its cloud images, the vastness of nature. The animal world in its natural beauty is not missing, as well as the architectural art that man is capable of creating. Temples, churches, entrances and halls invite you to walk along.
Furthermore, movement is a motif of Lucy Willis' artistic expression. While on the one hand almost meditative tranquility arises when viewing her artworks, it is on the other hand the human everyday life, which the artist knows how to capture in a few brushstrokes. On her numerous journeys, which have taken her from Asia to the Orient and Africa for Artist Magazine since 1990, she continues to rediscover the beauty of human existence in all its forms of expression. This is another reason why Willis celebrates national and international success!
Anyone who wants to understand the person and art of Lucy Willis cannot avoid one figure: the grandfather of the painter, who was born in 1954. H. M. Bateman was a famous English draftsman, cartoonist and caricaturist before he turned to painting at the age of 40. At the height of his fame, he wanted to explore new fields, to become a "real artist." Light and shadow, perspective and movement, as his granddaughter also knows how to capture him in a magnificent way in her watercolors, Bateman explored henceforth in the countryside and during trips to the island of Gozo.
Gozo, the second largest Maltese island, also became a destination and source of inspiration for Lucy Willis years later. It was here that the famous grandfather had spent the last years of his life. Here Lucy Willis wanted to visit places that she had discovered on undated pictures of the grandfather artistically transposed. Lucy Willis is a master at capturing weather and light conditions in her works. Whether on Gozo, in Aleppo, Jerusalem or in Bombay: Always communicates to the viewer the immediate feeling that the artist had in these places in view of majestic architecture and nature or special lighting conditions. Of course! For Willis knows that it is not only the composition of a painting that counts. It is light and shadow, contrasts actually, that make a painting visually accessible and interesting in terms of content. At the same time, wind and weather, sun, rain or clouds are always just snapshots. To capture them artistically requires skill and speed, close attention and exact implementation.
Lucy Willis, who in 1972 as a student of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford made a fantastic self-portrait of herself, nowadays prefers to choose her motifs from nature and architecture. Light-flooded scenes in the south, such as Tunisia or Israel, sublime mosques and fortifications: all watercolors bear witness to the human gaze and feeling that the artist has for her surroundings. Delicacy of color and intensity of light play a role in Willis' work, as do motifs that describe everyday life, such as a wheelbarrow, animals, or fruits on a plate inviting us to eat. Furthermore, it is the elements that move the artist. Water and its reflections, the sky with its cloud images, the vastness of nature. The animal world in its natural beauty is not missing, as well as the architectural art that man is capable of creating. Temples, churches, entrances and halls invite you to walk along.
Furthermore, movement is a motif of Lucy Willis' artistic expression. While on the one hand almost meditative tranquility arises when viewing her artworks, it is on the other hand the human everyday life, which the artist knows how to capture in a few brushstrokes. On her numerous journeys, which have taken her from Asia to the Orient and Africa for Artist Magazine since 1990, she continues to rediscover the beauty of human existence in all its forms of expression. This is another reason why Willis celebrates national and international success!