Light plays and dances through the vibrant oil and watercolour paintings of Tessa Spencer Pryse, recording journeys through France, the Scottish Highlands, Switzerland and Venice as well as closer to home in Essex and Suffolk.
"I had an unusual upbringing and went to school in France, rural Wales and Switzerland. Perhaps it made me more observant visually. When you cannot understand what people are saying maybe you focus more on what you can see. I can remember being transfixed by watching pools of light shifting across rooms and by the way leaves seemed to change colour as the trees are blown about by the winds. I vowed early on that I would be a painter and try to communicate my passionate love of colour, tone and light to other people."
She has certainly succeeded skillfully combining a rich beautifully controlled palette with a powerful sense of the forces of nature. An expressive and accomplished artist Tessa prefers to work outdoors in the 'plein air' tradition, better to capture the play of light and shade whether over a broad landscape or in a more intimate scene such as the Fish Market in Venice or a sunny Provencal street cafe.
Tessa studied in London at the prestigious Byam Shaw School of Art later receiving the honour of being invited as guest student by Peter Greenham, Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools. Since then has worked prolifically exhibiting widely in Britain and overseas.
