About

I've always been interested in wildlife,as much as I enjoy painting, combining the two feels like a match made in heaven, an obvious path to take.
Working from my home studio I share my life with lots of lively but wonderful creatures, including a supportive husband.
My main inspiration for my art comes from the lush countryside on my doorstep, my organic wildlife gardens are also typical points of daily inspiration for me, I also save my sketches and photographs from field trips to use as reference and inspiration for many of my paintings. The myriad of creatures visiting my gardens & ponds are my little muses, the beating drum of life, they make me who I am as an artist.
I love all animals, from the tiniest pond skater to the big cool cats they all matter to me, I've spent many years of my life creating wildflower meadows and wild areas for nature to thrive, my two wildlife ponds are now natural busy havens for frogs, newts, pondskaters and more, It's wonderful to see  hedgehogs, dragonflies, and birds are also starting to use these ponds as watering holes!.
You've probably guessed I'm mad about nature, and passionate about organic gardening.

Art and design has also featured heavily throughout my life. I studied horticulture and floral design at college, qualifiying with distinctions, years later I changed paths after falling completely in love with watercolour.
My art is now on display dotted around the country in little shops and galleries, and previously featured in the John Lewis product range.
My main objective though is simply to bring a little bit of colour and joy to my customers through my paintings.

​

A brief timescale of some of the other things I've been getting up to

2015 - 2016.
I was invited to hold solo exhibitions at galleries in north Wales and Norfolk, almost all my paintings sold at both events, this gave me the confidence to start taking my art more seriously.
2018.
I was shortlisted for the artist of the year competition in Artist & illustrators magazine, and again in 2019, I was thrilled to be shortlisted twice! , also lovely to meet other artists at the fantastic Mall galleries in London. I'm an extremely humble artist hence these types of things are proud moments for me.
2020 .
One of my paintings made the longlist in the Jacksons painting prize, delighted to make this longlist because there were thousands of entries. This is an art competition that I particularly admire!.
2021/2022.
I was an Invitational artist for the ' Sketch for survival ' exhibition for a couple of years running.

From 2023 onwards 

I made the decision to temporarily step away from art comps and exhibitions for a short while in order to get back to focusing entirely on my studio work and my wonderfully loyal customers base. I strongly believe that If you stretch yourself too thinly it will show in your paintings, hence I would rather be in my studio dedicated myself to my craft.

When I'm not painting I devote my spare time to family and friends, and looking after wildlife habitats, and of course my own beloved animals, very important.

 

L J Holmes

​x​