All about us

The officers

Life President

Alistair Crawford lived in West Wales from 1974 to 2010, when he moved to Suffolk. Painter, printmaker, curator, art historian, writer, performer, he became the first Professor of Art in the history of Wales. Distinctions include invited academician of the Royal Cambrian Academy, Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. Exhibits internationally and is represented world wide.

Current members

Lindsay Davies was born in Altrincham, Cheshire. She has lived in Mid Wales since 1996, working as an Occupational Therapist in Llandrindod Hospital until 2012. The landscape of the Wye valley has been a constant source of inspiration to her and she is currently working on acrylic paintings of the hills around Rhayader.

Rosemary Fahimi finds that by working both as a farmer in the hills of Wales and realizing her ambition as an artist has given her a uniquely holistic view of the countryside and its people. She uses the subjects that are all around her and she is part of, allowing her to give them life on canvas or in sculpture.

Gordon Miles was born in Maidstone, Kent, and studied photolithography at the London School of Printing and Drawing, and then illustration at Harrow Art School. He has lived and worked as a professional artist in Wales since 1980, holding numerous solo and group exhibitions at prestigious venues throughout the UK. As well as printmaking he paints in oils.

Greteli Morton found when visiting some amazing habitats along with her ecologist & palaeontologist husband Alan, that her love for all things beautiful as well as natural could be developed in tandem. Water-worn or weathered wood, the play of sunshine on ripples, or the patterns on pebbles picked up from the beach; details of the natural world providing powerful sources of creative inspiration for her.

Patrick Owen lived and worked in London until early retirement enabled him to live full time in Wales. He has spent years restoring and improving his old house but has made time for his lifelong passion of painting. Patrick attended life painting evening classes in London for many years and painted outside views in London at weekends. He paints exclusively in oils directly from the subject and derives great pleasure from looking at and learning from the paintings of other artists past and present.

Dilwyn Roberts is a recently retired architect and art student, who is now pursuing his lifelong interest in art, focussing on landscape in various mediums. He is particularly interested in the abstract patterns to be found there as well as the relationships between colours and how changing juxtapositions vary these. He sees painting as an experimental exercise and hopes to return to full time study in due course.

Karl Sylvester trained as an artist in Herts and Edinburgh, and has lived and worked in mid Wales since 2003. He works mainly in oil and charcoal, and his favoured themes are landscape, still life and the human body. He believes that working directly from Nature develops a good eye and compassion for the world around us, and this is shown in his painterly use of oils.

Shelley Upton, one time chef and restaurateur, moved to Wales and worked as a seamstress until 1993 when she undertook the BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and worked in Information Services at Aberystwyth University. The stimulation first derived from Life Long Learning art courses re-kindled her passion for painting.

Ann Williams is originally from South Wales but has lived longer in Aberystwyth than anywhere else and she creates her pictures to convey her sense of place. The work shows the artistic process of recording images and pushing that process forward, often to arrive at semi-abstract conclusions. She hopes the paintings will make the viewer see their environment in a new way. Ann has exhibited with a number of groups and has work in private collections in Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Resting and Retired Members

Iwan Dafis is a former banker. He attended some Life Long Learning art classes, then went on to gain a first in BA(Hons) Fine Art, then an MA, and is now studying for a PhD at Aberystwyth. Iwan has a strong attachment and commitment to both the people and the land of West Wales, a land tilled and farmed by generations of his family, and now transformed into his paintings that distil moments in time.

Heulwen Davies is a full time farmer who, after attending some local art classes, gained a BA (Hons) Fine Art degree at Aberystwyth in 2005, then later returned to Life Long Learning classes. She works in still life, but mainly from the landscape that surrounds her farm, near Tregaron, Ceredigion.

June Forster studied science to postgraduate level but decided to follow a life-long ambition to paint. Following a BA (First Class) and MA (Distinction) in Fine Art, she has now achieved an art practice PhD exploring aspects of landscape painting.

Maggie Goff was born in Lincolnshire in 1948 and moved from Kent to live in North Pembrokeshire in 1986. She began to paint and draw again in 2007 and the passion has grown. Her love of colour and shape is reflected in her semi-abstract work. 

Julia Harris is an artist who is notable for her varied and inspirational work, in a range of media – charcoal, watercolour, acrylics, and oils – according to subject and mood. Her paintings explore the light and drama of changing light, with the enduring patterns and rhythms of country life. She is particularly interested in contemporary landscape exploring and interpreting the Welsh countryside and studies of animals, to which she gives expression, life and character.

Barbara Mathews, a practising Medical Herbalist, completed the BA (Hons) Fine Art at Aberystwyth in 2005, then enrolled on Life Long Learning classes. Her recent evocative and poetic series of paintings, based on the now abandoned lead mines that surround her home in the Cambrian Mountains, comment eloquently on both our industrial past and future.

Stephanie Mansell moved to Wales 27 years ago because of her love of the countryside which she still finds, every day, to contain its air of purity and mystery. A retired accountant, Stephanie still runs a small holding near Aberystwyth and developed her interest in making pictures initially by attending Life Long Learning classes. She is also a skilled potter.

Karen Pearce the Welsh landscape artist has actually been a member twice. She is currently resting - you can see her beautiful work here: http://www.karen-pearce.com

Anne Solomon trained as an artist in York. She works in many mediums; however, it is pen and wash that allows her to lose all track of time. She generally favours drawing natural subjects; trees, cones, seed heads and ferns as well as, in particular, winter landscapes. Drawing has always been (and always will be) a passion for her.

Dot Thomas started attending art classes following retirement as a social historian. From childhood she has always loved walking in the hills and mountains. Now she also enjoys the challenge of communicating through painting that feeling of well-being experienced in the hills. Her latest series is based on pathways which can be taken as straightforward landscapes or as a metaphor for life’s journey.

Harry Thomas trained as a botanist and spent 30 years as a crop physiologist. He has always painted, off and on, but since taking early retirement and attending some Life Long Learning courses, has become increasingly involved in depicting the landscape around his home near the Dyfi Estuary, Ceredigion.

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