Ophelia Redpath, 1965 | Surrealist painter

Redpath was born in Cambridge, England, where she still lives. Her career as a painter spans over 20 years with exhibitions in over 100 shows in Britain and overseas, painted several murals and produced two books.

From 1983-1984 she attended the Art Foundation Course at CCAT where she studied under the tutelage of the acclaimed illustrator, Warwick Hutton and the highly respected painter, Julia Ball.

After further studies of Music and Education at Homerton College, she took up painting full-time.

She lives in a village near Cambridge with her daughter Sally.

Clive James says: "Ophelia Redpath is the most brilliant artist of her type currently working in Britain…. She notes expressions and character from her fellow human beings whom she was born to portray in all their magnificent and tumultuous individuality… She portrays not types, but particular people, so many of them that they look like a crowd. But they are a crowd only until we look closely, which, like no-one else in her generation, she can make us do".

She is presently at work on her second novel, as well as a very funny collection of memoir styled essays and a new series of paintings.

Technique

- "Initially I began painting in oil pastel and gouache on paper. A ground in oil pastel establishes the basic colour composition, after which the gouache, a water-based paint, is applied.

The reaction between oil-based and water-based substances causes separations of pigment which play against each other and result in a textured finish.

A few years ago I moved into working in oil on gesso-primed paper which excites me even more due to the richness provided by oil paints.

Now I mainly concentrate on painting in oils on canvas.

I also like to work graphically and illustratively using fine-liners and coloured inks. Works using this medium include illustrated books and wall-prints".

Art

Ophelia's oil paintings are best known for their connection with jazz, literature their surreal qualities and for deep undercurrents of humour and joy. She is currently immersed in work exploring the relationship between the human world and the diminishing natural world, highlighting both the negative dilemmas and the possibilities for change.

Besides working in oils, Ophelia works graphically in pen and ink, producing detailed designs for posters and illustrations for authors and musicians.

She has written and illustrated a children's picture book of her own, "The Lemur's Tale" which was nominated for the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal and reviewed in The Times as Book of the Week.

She has also written, illustrated and published an adult's coffee table book, "An ABC of Cambridge Professors".

Many of her images are available to license out to other creators including authors, actors and musicians for use as album covers, book jackets and posters.

Ophelia Redpath è nata a Cambridge, in Inghilterra, dove vive ancora. La sua carriera di pittrice si estende per oltre 20 anni con mostre in oltre 100 spettacoli in Gran Bretagna ed all'estero. Clive James dice che "è l'artista più brillante del suo tipo che attualmente lavora in Gran Bretagna".

Attualmente sta lavorando al suo secondo romanzo, oltre a una collezione molto divertente di saggi in stile memorie e una nuova serie di dipinti.

- "Inizialmente ho iniziato a dipingere con pastello a olio e tempera su carta. Una terra in pastello ad olio stabilisce la composizione cromatica di base, dopodiché viene applicata la tempera, una pittura a base d'acqua.

La reazione tra le sostanze a base di olio e quelle a base di acqua provoca separazioni del pigmento che giocano l'una contro l'altra e danno come risultato una finitura testurizzata. Qualche anno fa sono passato alla lavorazione ad olio su carta innescata da gesso che mi entusiasma ancora di più per la ricchezza fornita dai colori ad olio.

Ora mi concentro principalmente sulla pittura da olio su tela. Mi piace anche lavorare la grafica e l'illustrazione usando rivestimenti sottili ed inchiostri colorati. Le opere che utilizzano questo mezzo includono libri illustrati e stampe murali".