Bridget Woods

1967-1972 Bridget Woods studied most aspects of art: drawing and painting, life and still life, printing, sculpture, photography and design for two years at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art. Due to her love of life drawing, she was advised to study and follow a career in fashion illustration and design.

1972-1976 Before graduating with distinction she was offered a position as an illustrator with Nigel French Enterprises in London. Then in 1975, she was invited to join the designer, Eddie Lloyd, to run and design for, his women’s wear consultancy and assist him in the design of the Dunhill International range of menswear.

1976-1980 Despite a successful and enjoyable career in fashion, Bridget nevertheless decided to return to her chosen field of art - life drawing, portraiture and landscape painting. Having settled in the Chichester area, she began to teach these subjects and started receiving commissions.

1980 Bridget lived for a year in Aix-en-Provence (chosen for its consistent light) in order to develop her landscape and portraiture in oils and watercolour. During this time she made her living as a portrait artist and audio-visual cartoonist.

1981 First solo show. Since this time, she has specialised in watercolour painting, holding over 40 solo exhibitions in England, France and Iceland and exhibiting at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours.

Bridget’s main aim, stimulated by the spirit of subjects ranging from weather, landscape and people to still-life and abstract images, is to convey feeling and atmosphere through the unique ‘alchemy’ of transparent watercolour. Dedicated to sharing her enthusiasm and love of these subjects, Bridget has been teaching for over 27 years and has led many courses in Iceland, Madeira and France.

She teaches at West Dean College and The Earnley Concourse and, by invitation, tutors private groups. Bridget is committed to enabling students to express themselves rather than a ‘school look’ by exploring their viewpoints and expanding their mark-making vocabulary.

Her first book ‘Life Drawing - a journey to self-expression’ published in December 2003 by The Crowood Press has sold over 4,000 copies. In the last year, she has written seven articles for ‘The Artist’ magazine and is currently writing a book on watercolour which will be a distillation of her painting methods. In 2007, Bridget is planning to explore, and paint her responses to, selected areas of England.

Bridget Woods

‘The conjunction of order and chance that underpins human experience is the stimulus for my painting. This edgy dynamic is also the pivot for my choice of watercolour as preferred medium for its speed of drying and quirky sensitivity to weather conditions and mood. However, because transparent watercolour will not cover and hide, the skill to work with it requires both accuracy and spontaneity and can only evolve, like life - serially. Watercolour cannot be bullied, forced or pushed into place without losing something of the intrinsic glory of its own nature and so, by combining research and play, I try to anticipate what water wants to do and work with it. My aim is to be primed with skills that I can ‘forget’ sufficiently to respond in the moment of discovery. Because that moment cannot be repeated, and each mark is permanent, the process involves risk.

The counterbalance in dance and music and the geological drama of the Dorset coast and Iceland, where I exhibit and regularly teach, are underlying influences of my subject choice which ranges from landscape to life painting and the synaesthetic imagery of linked sensations. My aim is to savour and express the connection I feel with external elements. Whether this spark hits me or is generated by my attention, the brief synchronicity it creates can make the humblest everyday event feel awesome and worthy of celebration.

If my destination is the synthesis of idea and sensation in painting, then the journey for me is a wandering between studio and location and the realities of the outer and inner ‘screens’ of vision. Each image, good-looking or bad, is a testament to its moment of creation and I now view painting less in terms of finite pieces, more as a continuing life process.’

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