Charlotte Hode Thomas NAPA

1986-’87  Foundation course at Portsmouth College of Art. Distinction.

1987-’88  BTEC National Diploma in General Art & Design at Southwark   College, London. Distinction.

1988-1991  Textile Art degree at Manchester Metropolitan University. First Class (B.A.) Hons.

For almost ten years (after graduating in 1991) I exhibited widely as a Textile Artist; creating unique embroidered wall-hangings and fabric art collages for public art commissions and private collections. I received prestigious awards from the Crafts Council of Great Britain (becoming a Selected Maker)  and the Prince’s Youth Business Trust, and in 1997 a piece of my work was purchased for the Embroiderers Guild Permanent Museum Collection at Hampton Court Palace, where it is still housed.

During this time, and at college, I always had a keen interest in painting... and painted alongside my textile work as a complementary discipline. I taught Life Drawing at Manchester Metropolitan University and later Portraiture, Life and General painting classes at Bromley Adult Education Classes in Kent. Acrylic paint has always been my preferred painting medium throughout my college years and whilst teaching.

Since moving back to the Isle of Wight in 2001 I have put my textile work ‘on hold’ and focused solely on Fine Art painting. Re-inspired by my surroundings I have developed a bold, vivid style of painting – aiming to capture the essence of the Island with acrylic on canvas. My paintings marry sweeping backdrops of colour with fine attention to foreground detail.

I paint mostly seascapes and marine imagery but also enjoy painting landscapes, abstracts, life and nudes. I exhibit my work regularly on the Island, including in the annual IW Open Studios, at Quarr Abbey Art Gallery and Seaview Gallery. I have undertaken both private and public painting commissions.

In 2010 I received International recognition for my Fine Art painting when I became a finalist in the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition with my painting entitled Long Ledge Dawn (see image attached). In 2012 I won First Prize at the Landscapes of the Isle of Wight 28th Annual Exhibition, held at the Coach House, East Dene, Bonchurch, with my painting entitled Forelands Beach Huts (see image attached).

I love working in acrylic paint and have concentrated on using it for fourteen years now... although my involvement with it, including art college, spans 28 years! I love the versatility of acrylic paint; how it can be thinned to a watercolour consistency or applied as a thick, opaque layer. I combine both thick and thin layers when painting to build up the atmospheric qualities of dramatic skies and sea; and the fine, solid detail such as rust on a buoy. I feel that this approach lends a 3-dimensional quality to my work.

The speed at which acrylic dries also suits my painting methods and style: I tend not to add any retardants or thickeners to my paint, just water. I am a keen colourist and I find that acrylic paint allows me to mix and apply vibrant colour without it becoming muddied by a wet layer beneath: This gives my paintings the sharp clarity I hope to achieve.

Due to family commitments in recent years I have largely kept my exhibiting life to the Isle of Wight. Now that my children are a bit older and more independent, and my time is less stretched (slightly!), I feel ready to get my work out there, to more mainland UK galleries and beyond.  I would love to be a part of N.A.P.A., to add those letters to my name and to share exhibiting possibilities with like minded people, who share a love of acrylic