Abigail Edgar and, below, examples of her work

FROM studies of far-flung places to taking stock of what lies on her doorstep, artist Abigail Edgar has used a range of mediums to capture a range of different subjects.

Her latest show, which opens in a fortnight’s time, brings together works that focus on places near her Dartmouth Park home and in a style that marks a progression in her output.

Titled The Colour of Shadow, Abigail has been drawn to woods and individual trees to study, using oils, acrylics and collage.

She recalls the words of artist Paul Nash – “I have tried to paint as tho’ they were human beings… because I sincerely love and worship trees and know that they are people and wonderfully beautiful people” – adding “that is pretty much how I feel”.

Living near Hampstead Heath means she has plenty of subject matter to choose from.

“I love the light and the paces between the branches,” she says. “They can be exciting and dynamic. There are endless possibilities for abstract compositions.”

Before moving to Dartmouth Park, Abigail painted from the top floor of a house overlooking East Heath, giving her a window-seat view of the expanse of sky painted frequently by John Constable.
Her favoured haunts reflect this.

“I find the places that are pertinent to me, places that get across what I want to show, what stops me in my tracks. The Vale of Health is magical. The field of Oaks on the approach to Kenwood, Athlone House gardens and Cohens Field – I take my sketch book and lots of photographs. I make notes and jot down ideas. Because I am moving from more literal work to reinventing the landscape, I can complete painting in the studio. There a romantic vision of a landscape that appeals.”

Abigail trained as an illustrator at Kingston and completed a post graduate course at Central Saint Martins. Her early career saw her earn a living by applying her talent to a range of topics: they included book jacket designs, wine bottle labels, and other forms of packaging and publishing.

Her direction changed after the birth of her first child. “I had limited time, so I decided to concentrate on work I had more of a passion for, rather than commercial art,” she says.

“When I studied design, it was about creating projects that were applied art,” she says. “Some students would get very excited about a typeface, for example, but for me it was always about how the finished product looked. I just wanted to do as much drawing and painting as I could.”

Trips to China and India offered new subjects and her work was shown at Burgh House, New End. A second show, called Catching the Sun, focused on studies from the Mediterranean. She was approached by the renowned Chris Beetles Gallery to represent her, and more work followed in watercolour, acrylic and oils.

Abigail has been both a teacher, leading art classes for adults, working in schools and via a series of artistic technique books: she has also not stopped learning her craft.

Further study was completed at the Hampstead School of Art and the Royal Drawing School, which helped her move from creating images for the likes of Penguin Books and Marks and Spencer into personal works rather than commissions.

“I wanted to explore what I could do,” she explains. “I wanted to bring a personal vision to my work.

“Both colleges had fantastic teachers. One tutor asked why I was there, as I was already a professional artist. She said to me there were a lot of painters churning out landscapes. ‘You need to consider what it is you can bring to your art’,” she said.

“She was talking about an artistic essence inside you. Picasso said art was about eliminating the unnecessary and how to recognise that and use it. I am obsessed with this idea.”

Her show features studies of trees that she knows so well.

Another inspiration comes from the Victorian artist Samuel Palmer, whose paintings of natural scenes had a fantastical edge to them.

“His work is very stylised,” she says. “There is strong design in his imagery. He was not just painting what was in front of him, he was not just painting what he sees, but how he sees it. That is what I am aiming to do. I have always been aware of my surroundings, and a lot of my early stuff was from abroad.

“But I really find it satisfying to know a place well, visit it through the different seasons. Turning my attention to London shows there is so much on my doorstep that provides material.”

• Abigail Edgar presents her latest body of work, The Colour of Shadow, at 67 York Street, Marylebone, W1H 1QB. The gallery will be open 11am to 6pm from March 13-18, with an evening opening from 6pm to 9pm on March 15