June Mendoza OBE RP ROI

Statement

The basic inspiration may stem from any one of the many aspects of portraiture anyone, or certainly June Mendoza, has to deal with and juggle simultaneously on both the painting and the portrait. Design comes first (painting) inclusive of what it says about the subject – combined with the body language (portrait).

Methodology

June uses pastel, pen and chalks or watercolour that are finally channelled into full oil portraiture on canvas. She uses shop bought brushes, turps and my oil paints. These she carts around for the many away-days and overseas commissions in a battered old briefcase (which cause much suspicion at airports!)I seem and like to work on about six portraits simultaneously. Each has breathing space for paint, artist and sitter by alternating and she contend with a full diary more comfortably. June works from life, as for me there is information and painting excitement in exploration, character and colour which she finds limited in “painting” from photographs. June wants life in her subjects’ veins. She works straight onto the canvas but the decisions still have to be made in her head first.

Bio

• Born in Melborne Australia

• Studied at St Martin’s School of Art

• Taught freelance short course/tutoring at West Dean College, Chetham’s Music College, Manchester.

• Courses of a week’s duration in France. Lectures internationally, art criticisms (encouragements!).

• Elected by and annual showings with RP, ROI and SWA.

• Council Member of RP and ROIPortraits for industry, academia, medicine, government, H.M. Forces, royalty, theatre, sport, literature internationally.

Memberships

June Mendoza is a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and an Honorary Society of Women Artists.

Scholarships, Awards, Prizes

• AO 1989

• OBE 2004

• Hon DLitt: Univ of Bath 1986

• Hon DLitt: Loughborough Univ 1994

• Hon Dr Open Univ 2003

• Freeman City of London 1998

Notable Sitters: 

PRESIDENTS AND PRIME MINISTERS

• UK [Thatcher and Major]

• Philippines [Coruzon Aquino]

• Iceland [Vigdis Finnbogadottir]

• Australia [John Gorton]

• Singapore [Lee Kwan Yew]

• Fiji [Ratu Kamisese Mara]

ROYALS

• Queen Elizabeth

• Prince of Wales

• Princess Anne

• Duchess of Kent

• Princess Diana

• Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother

JUDICIARY

• Baroness Hale

• Dame Rose Heilbron

• Yong Pung How (Singapore)

CHURCH

• Archbishops Coggan, Runcie, and Carey of Canterbury

ACADEMIA

• A J P Taylor

• David Starkey

• Asa Briggs

INDUSTRY

• Lord (Eddie) George

• Freddy Heineken

LITERATURE

• Tom Stoppard

• P.D. James

• Lynne Reid-Banks

ARTS

• Judi Dench

• Ken Loach

• Tom Stoppard

• Alan Aykbourn

• Sean Connery

• Juliet Stevenson

• Eileen Atkins

• Barry Humphries

• Ninette de Valois

• Marie Rambert

• Beryl Grey

• Monica Mason

• Peter Wright

SPORT

• Chris Evert

• David Weir

• Virginia Wade

MUSIC

• Joan Sutherland

• Malcolm Arnold

• Stephen Isserlis

• Michael Tippett

• Georg Solti

• Charles Mackerras

• Colin Davis

• Yehudi Menuhin

GROUPS

• House of Commons

• Inner Temple

• Barber-Surgeons