Melinda Kenneway OAS – portfolio

Contact the artist

https://melindakenneway.com
07921 123542
melinda[at]melindakenneway[dot]com

Exhibition information

I’m looking forward to welcoming visitors to my garden gazebo and home studio for Oxfordshire Artweeks (first two weekends of May, 11am to 5pm). Visitors, please note there is no parking in Farm Close Lane and there is no turning round at the end of the lane. Please park in one of the adjacent roads and walk the short distance to my cottage. Note there are several steps down to the studio and garden.

As well as paintings on display, you can also browse a selection of cards and prints, ask about a commission, or relax in the garden with a cup of tea and some cake. I love talking about all things art and there is no obligation to buy anything! Feel free to pop in for a visit and see me at work to learn a little more about the ‘indirect’ method of oil painting in layers to build detail and luminosity.

Featured among the paintings I have on display is “Witch Hazel”, which has recently been selected by the prestigious Society of Women Artists from over 3,000 entries, for their summer show in the Mall Galleries, London.

Artist information

I grew up in the Kent countryside with a love of myths and legend, fuelled by Tolkien, C S Lewis and Andrew Lang. This gave me a sense of magic and romance that has stayed with me through life. Now based just outside of Oxford, I paint with oils in a style that is sometimes called ‘magical realism’ – portraiture and figurative art in natural and semi-fantastical settings. I aim to create paintings that are whimsical and thoughtful, with pre-raphaelite influences. My technique is similar to that of the old masters, which requires putting down many layers and finishing with transparent glazes to add colour and depth. It’s a time-consuming but hugely rewarding technique that gives oil paintings a glow that cannot otherwise be achieved.

Having drawn extensively through my childhood and with an encouraging mother who taught botanical illustration at Kew, it was expected I would go to art school. But life took a more academic turn and instead I headed to Oxford to study Experimental Psychology and after that a career in academic publishing. But drawing stayed with me and in later life I have studied oil painting at the University of Arts, London and been mentored by several leading contemporary portrait artists – helping me bring the world in my head to life through paint. Please visit my website for paintings currently availability and I also welcome commission enquiries.