I am an artist living and working in Pembrokeshire. All my work is inspired by the ever-changing light and the rich textures and colours of the landscape around me.

As a child I always enjoyed making things and spent long hours digging clay from the stream at the bottom of our garden in Sussex, and making pots and figures which I would then "fire" in the oven. It is that feeling of getting lost in an activity, in creating something, that comes back to me now when I`m working in the studio. The process is often similarly messy and is satisfying on many levels.

Linda at work on some jewellery


Listen to a recent podcast interview with Brenda Dayne



Painting

I paint using either acrylic or oil paint, sometimes I make my own paper, or add plaster, sand, cloth, feathers even, to the painting surface. I often revel in very textured and messy surfaces, the physical, tactile involvement helps me to feel absorbed in the process. The element of play is central to my work, and when painting is going well, there is nothing like the feeling of making the right mark, mixing just the right colour, of things falling into place.

In the last twenty years I have moved much more towards an emotional approach. I would say that the landscape has become my canvas. I go out alone and experience the landscape, the weather, absorb the feeling and colour and sound of it, and this feeds back to my work in the studio. Sometimes the influence is fairly immediate, but often it takes a long time, years even, for ideas to germinate and come to fruition in my painting.


The Gallery

Over the past ten years we have welcomed over two thousand people to the gallery. I am always glad when someone walks away delighted to have purchased a piece of my work which reminds them of the emotional space that Pembrokeshire offers, and which they take back to their busy lives at home. It is not always easy living and working around the gallery, but, apart from making a living, having the gallery gives me contact with some of the people who appreciate my work. Being an artist is an isolated occupation and it is good to have feedback, I have been amazed how many people have written to me, sent poems even, saying how much my work means to them. I have printed a booklet of poems people have sent me alongside some of my paintings. The gallery also gives me some control over how my work is shown, much as I like showing in London and Bath, it is good to be able to exhibit a body of work all together, and in the place which inspires it.

Jewellery

My jewellery pieces have come out of textural explorations of the landscape and are made as an extension of my work as a painter. Each item is an individual piece inspired by an aspect of landscape, be it leaves, shells, lichens or rock and wood textures.

My jewellery is made from either glass, or Precious Metal Clay (pmc). Pmc is a clay-like substance formed of 98% recycled fine silver and 2% organic binder. The pieces are made using impressions of form and texture I have taken directly from the Welsh landscape, the clay is applied to these textural moulds and is then fired to 900 degrees in my studio kiln. The binder is burned out during the firing process leaving 100% fine silver. These silver pieces are then burnished or tarnished and polished to the desired finish.

Making jewellery is a lot of fun. I love the idea of directly harvesting an aspect of nature and, by fire and design, transforming it into something precious that can be worn. Exploring new media enables me to experiment and expand my work in new directions.


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