David Gleeson RI & Teresa Lawler RI

David’s still lifes frequently feature objects with personal or autobiographical meaning: things he has collected, memories and moments. They are a contemporary take on the idea of still life, quiet meditations on the transience of time and celebrating the wonderful in the ordinary. 

David paints stories, life in a subtle dream disguised, which then astonishes. When painting, a moment of strange beauty appears on the surface after careful observation and meditation. A fleeting instant transformed, by colour and tone, into an intriguing image. Each of David’s paintings tells a story but prefers it to be a story that is not fully explained. He likes the idea that the viewer can complete the story. As David paints, he does a lot of putting in and taking out, so the narrative is constantly changing, which keeps him intrigued.

Teresa’s most recent work further develops the idea of stylised houses inserted into fictitious landscapes. As with previous landscape series, this work again deals with the point where the built environment directly connects with nature, although the terrain is becoming increasingly more remote. Creating these images has enabled Teresa to travel to places that are further afield yet remain in her studio. They are shaped from a multitude of references, sketches and memories gathered over many years.

Both artists are elected members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI).