Gillian Durno (b.1970)

Gillian was born in Stamford in 1970 and completed a BA Honours Teaching Degree at Bishop Grossetesten University in Lincoln, specialising in art.  Influenced by artists such as Mary Fedden and William Selby, she paints flowers, still life and impressionist landscapes in acrylic, mixed media and pastel.  Her work is a celebration of her love of nature.  She paints from her studio, which is set in a beautiful, well-stocked, stone walled garden in rural Rutland, that provides year-round interest and inspiration for her paintings.

"I am particularly inspired by the continual cycle of nature, which often dictates what I create and paint on a day-to-day basis.  Texture has become an exciting feature of my work.  I am very interested in 'creating' layers of texture with collage and mixed media, in particular using tissue paper, masonry paint, acrylics, inks and pastels.  Largely painting using a palette knife allows me to 'scratch' areas of paint; this adds interest to paintings, revealing unexpected areas of underpainting and providing a depth to my paintings not achieved with brushwork alone"

Gillian has exhibited at galleries in Cambridge and Lincolnshire.