Margaret Heath RSMA | Mall Galleries

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Winter Sunrise, Lymington Quay

Margaret Heath RSMA

Watercolour

51 x 61 cm

About Margaret Heath RSMA

Profile

Artist details

Artist's Statement

Having spent much of her childhood in Brighton, Margaret Heath's love of the sea was her inspiration when she became a painter. Margaret loves the changing effects of light and weather on the water; boats and their reflections, the beauty of natural forms in coastal scenes and the vibrancy of seaside architecture.

Method of Working

Margaret paints with watercolours on Arches 600gsm rough paper, using large round sable brushes for washes, and small synthetic brushes for detail. Unless working on a commission, she always paints from her own photographs. This enables her to catch fleeting light effects, and Margaret will often combine several photos to paint one image. Having drawn the subject in pencil, she uses masking fluid to preserve areas she wants left white. Washes are then applied in careful sequence, working from light to dark, gradually building up the picture. Soft areas are painted on wet paper. Masking fluid is removed, details painted in and the painting finished up. A painting may take several days to complete, and Margaret often works on two at once. A very large commission may take several weeks. Sometimes a pencil rough, then a smaller preliminary painting may be necessary, before producing a very large commissioned work.

Biographical Details

1944 Born on 13 July in Oxford

1960-64 studied at Wimbledon School of Art, graduating with the National Diploma in Design (NDD) in illustration.

Freelance Illustrator for national advertising campaigns and educational books for many years before becoming a full-time painter

2006 Elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists

2010 Elected a Full Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists

2011- Became RSMA Hon. Secretary

Society Memberships

Royal Society of Marine Artists

Scholarships, Awards, Prizes

Rowland Hilder Award, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, 1999

R K Burt Canson Paper Prize, Royal Society of Marine Artists, 2015

Other exhibitions

1999 - Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries

1999 - 2007 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries

1999, 2000, 2010 - Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries

2001-2002 - Laing Art Competition, Mall Galleries

2001 - 2011 - Lincoln Joyce Fine Art, Great Bookham

2003 - 2007 - Linda Blackstone Gallery, London

2003 - ‘Not the Royal Academy’, Llewellyn Alexander Gallery, London

2004 - Chelsea Art Society's Annual Exhibition, London

2004 - 2008 Watercolours and Drawings Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, London

2006 - 2008 Affordable Art Fair, London

2007 - Royal Society of Marine Artists Stand, The Boat Show, Earls Court

2008 - Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition, Little Picture Gallery, Mousehole

2010 - Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition, Wykeham Gallery, Stockbridge

2011 - 2012 - ‘Venice in Peril’, W H Patterson Gallery, London

2013 - Royall Fine Art, Tunbridge Wells

2013 - Hawker Gallery, Amersham

2015 - Royal Society of Marine Artists Exhibition, St. Barbe Gallery, Lymington

Publications

Featured in Artists & Illustrators, September 2003.

Featured in Painting Light and Shade, Quarto 2003

Favourite Fish and Seafood Recipes, J. Salmon Ltd 2015

Margaret Heath’s Coast Calendar 2015, 2016, J.Salmon Ltd

Margaret Heath’s Seaside Calendar 2016, RNLI

Her paintings are published as fine art prints by The Art Group / Pyramid International and have been sold as art cards by Ikea worldwide.