GEORGINA VESTEY

Georgina Vestey is a British figurative artist who grew up in East Anglia and now lives in Edinburgh. She has become a hugely popular exhibitor with many sell-out shows. After completing an Art Foundation course at the City and Guilds School of Art, she studied classical training for four years in the atelier tradition at the London Fine Art Studios.

Much of her work focuses on landscapes in the UK, overseas and Scotland. She paints en plein air in oils using thick, quick brush strokes to capture the immediate atmosphere. “I have a converted van, a second home for travelling and exploring Scotland’s landscape. It’s great to jump behind the wheel and go and look for unusual views or chase the weather. Catching a storm rolling in is just as interesting as painting a beautiful day. It can be blowing a gale, or it may be warm and muggy with terrible midgies, but it’s those fleeting, crazy moments that make the best pictures.”

Georgina’s love of landscape stems from childhood holidays in Scotland. Stand-out memories are Elie Beach in Fife, with mesmerising light across the Firth of Forth, and Achmelvich Beach on the dramatic west coast in the Highlands. The secluded white sandy beaches, juxtaposed with turquoise seas and pink, craggy rocks, are scenes that resonate with the great Scottish Colourists, particularly Francis Cadell and Samuel Peplo, whose work and heavy use of paint (impasto) has always been inspirational.