Secret Art Auction 2026 Biographies

Congratulations to all our winning bidders!
With your support and the support of our fantastic artists, we raised an amazing £19,159!!!
THANK YOU!

Although the auction is now finished, we created a Bonus Art Sale that includes all 55 remaining works.

On this page: list of 2026 Secret Art Auction Artists and Artists’ biographies.
See the Gallery of works submitted to the Secret Art Auction 2026

All artists generously contributing to the Secret Art Auction 2026:

Secret Art Auction 2026 Artists’ Biographies:

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Sophie Capron
“My paintings are a discourse on the tenuous relationship between man and nature. This is established by the sgraffito marks of urban decay that inspire me and the recycled paints that I reuse within my pieces.
I feel privileged to reuse donated paint that others once chose for their homes and workspaces. In acknowledging the historical journey that each paint has taken, I celebrate the choice another person has made and breathe new life into it through the layers of my own work. It is these personal connections that underpin my work and make it poignant and purposeful to me. This paint is not simply discarded and forgotten but repurposed into something new.
I have always been fascinated with how nature and time encroaches on all that is man-made. The idea that over the passage of time a flawless wall or immaculate façade will show the marks of environmental decay and how modern development has the potential to erode the history of a place has an influence on my work. When the layers in the brickwork are exposed there is always the evidence of the past, no matter how untouched the present is.
Over time, the walls we build will be scraped and marked with the conversations of life’s passing and the growth and erosion of nature’s reclamation. It is this bittersweet beauty that I explore.”
Website: https://sophiecapron.co.uk/
Instagram:@sophie_capron
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Rob and Nick Carter
Rob and Nick Carter are a husband and wife artist duo who have been collaborating for over 20 years in London, England.
The Carters’ work examines the boundaries between the analogue and the digital using mediums including camera-less photography, painting, installation, neon, sculpture, and time-based media. The artists overarching goal is to harness new technology and reference historical processes that wouldn’t have been traditionally possible to previous artists.
In the last five years, Rob and Nick Carter resolved their curiosity using one profound tool: a robotic arm that they named Heidi. With AI and robotics, the artists taught Heidi, a six-axis Kuka Robot, to paint with exact precision. Heidi has since produced numerous series that mimic the works of old masters and artistic icons, as well as portraiture.
Their work is housed in the collections of The Mauritshuis, The Hague; The Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem; The Frick, Pittsburgh; The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The David Roberts Foundation, London; The Städel Museum, Frankfurt; and The Fondation Custodia, Paris, as well as being the only living artists to show a work at the Frick Museum, New York.
Website: www.robandnick.com
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Liz Chaderton
Liz creates art to remind us of the wonder in the world—the quiet resilience of nature, the deep connection we share with animals, and the endless possibilities for renewal. Her work is a moment of joy in a busy, overwhelming world, offering a fresh perspective that turns concern into hope and hope into action. It’s an invitation to see world not as it is, but as it could be.
Website: www.lizchaderton.co.uk
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Dapinder Chahal
A multi-disciplinary artist, designer and maker exploring the realms of creativity.
Instagram: @brindicreative
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Eve Chan
Eve Gabriel Chan is a photographer and film-maker:”I would like to continue in that way of working but would like to try new ways of work that I have been doing the last 31 years.
I would like to try different sizes in the photographic work and to make some super-8 films, shot in London or something about your city as I have not been to your city or work in it. I would continue with what I have been doing since I lefted Art School.
I have always lived in Sussex or London all my life so to do my work in London makes sense to me.I have always lived in Sussex or London all my life so to do my work in London makes sense to me”.
Website:https://evegabrielchan.photography/
Instagram: @yanchigabriel
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Faith Chevannes
Faith Chevannes is an award-winning Cornish printmaker whose work captures fleeting moments and precious glimpses of our fragile natural world.
Specialising in drypoint intaglio, Faith draws directly onto plates to produce prints characterised by their signature velvety burr lines.
Her recent practice is deeply rooted in wildlife conservation, focusing on the plight of endangered and extinct species. By documenting these subjects, she aims to provoke reflection on human impact and inspire a collective responsibility toward protecting our biodiversity.
Based in Launceston, North Cornwall, Faith studied at Falmouth School of Art and De Montfort University. Her work has gained significant national recognition, featuring in the Royal Academy (RA) Summer Exhibition (2019, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026), The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and the Royal West Academy (RWA).
Her accolades include prizes from Baxters Gallery Dartmouth ‘Best in Show’ at Bovey Craft Festival 2026, The inaugural Ironbridge Fine Arts Printmaking Open 2nd Prize 2023, Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Week and The South West Academy of Arts (SWAc). Faith is currently represented by several South West galleries.
Website: https://www.faithchevannes.com/
Instagram: @faithchevannesart
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Leigh Clarke
Leigh has been Print Tutor at the RA Schools since 2012 and is also Senior Lecturer in Illustration and Visual Media at the University of the Arts London. He studied Printmaking at the RCA and has exhibited his work around the UK and internationally.
Website: www.leighclarkeworks.com
Instagram: @leighclarkeartist
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Camilla Clutterbuck
Camilla studied Graphic Design at art college and then had a change of direction and worked in Theatre as a Stage Manager in the West End for eighteen years.
In 2002 she started painting full time and had her first exhibition with artist Sophie Thompson at Notting Hill Fine Art Gallery. She has exhibited at the Patchings Art Festival (awarded a St Cuthbert’s prize by Artist magazine); North Lincolnshire Open Print Exhibition (awarded a prize sponsored by Intaglio); exhibited/demonstrated at the Childwickbury Arts Fair; at The Mall Galleries with The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, The Society of Wildlife Artists and The Royal Society of British Artists; The Royal Academy Summer Show and The Jonathan Cooper Gallery. “I am and always have been drawn to the natural world; the delicacy and strength of it. I learnt to paint in watercolour at a very early age in my mother’s studio. She was a watercolourist and mixed media artist, and I enjoy working with watercolour for the same reason as I enjoy the natural world – for the delicacy and strength of it”.
Instagram: @camillaclutterbuck
Website: https://www.camillaclutterbuck.co.uk/
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Amanda Helen Collings
Website: https://www.artofthespirit.co.uk/
Instagram: @art_of.the_spirit
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Andy Council
Originally from the city of Bath Andy Council has spent the last 25 years living and working in Bristol.  He has become a veteran of Bristol’s creative scene and part of its thriving Street Art community.  His work is full of urban detail and he’s drawn everything from huge cutaway diagrams of cityscapes through to dinosaurs made from streets and houses.
Andy studied animation at Bournemouth Art College, and has diverted many of the skills he learned towards illustration and mural work.
Drawing is at the heart of Andy’s work whether that’s combined with digital techniques or more traditional media like inks and acrylic paint.  Through becoming integrated into Bristol’s Street Art and Graffiti culture he has become highly proficient in the use of spray paint.  He uses spray paint like a pencil to draw his designs on a large scale onto walls and other surfaces.  Although not a graffiti lettering artist himself the style and approach of that form is a massive influence on his work.
Most of Andy’s illustrations are architectural landscapes, cities and maps. He has become well known for creating composite beasts made up of architectural landmarks and other recognisable elements. His work is dominated by lots of small elements that together create a new form or scene with a story behind it.
Website: www.andycouncil.co.uk
Instagram: @andycouncil
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Sarah Gabrielle Dixon
Sarah is a Dorset based creator working with experimental techniques. Art for me is a journey in life to explore the world and find my place in it.
Instagram:@sarahgabrielle_art
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Anna Dyson
“I am an intuitive, abstract painter and designer creating vibrant, textured art with vegan friendly oil, and acrylic paint.
After being diagnosed with ADHD, Dyspraxia and Irlen Syndrome, I rediscovered my love of painting, something I had been deterred from after struggling on a Foundation Art Course 30 years ago due to difficulties with completing written tasks and a lack of “creative ability”. I have since been able to put those early experiences into context and now I am proud of who I am and the art I create. I have always loved to paint and had a passion for colour, and now my art has allowed me a new lease of life to express the real me. My paintings tend to paint themselves so I am always amazed by what emerges. It is such a tonic to communicate through colour when using the right words can be so challenging”.
Website:https://www.annadyson-intuitiveart.co.uk/
Instagram:@annadyson_intuitiveart/
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Emmely Elgersma
SCULPTOR, CERAMICIST AND FOOTBALL COACH LIVING IN LONDON, ENGLAND.
Surrounded by buckets of PVA glue and stacks of newspapers, Emmely Elgersma uses her studio like a surreal kitchen, concocting wonky sculptures and wobbly objects that look good enough to eat (but probably don’t taste very good). Creating clay from kitchen products and papier-mâché out of household chemicals, Elgersma’s work is rooted in her formal training as a ceramicist, just with a couple of jokes thrown in. Her fascination with discarded materials began with one of her first jobs, working in a shop in Bloomsbury for the daughter of the founder of Bagpuss and Clangers, where she learned how to transform ‘rubbish’ into window displays. That early hands-on experience with glue, scraps, and imagination laid the groundwork for her approach to sculpture. This resourceful attitude extends beyond her studio; briefly enrolled in Tom Daley’s Diving Academy at Stratford Olympic Pool, she embraced the challenge of movement, balance, and precision – elements that continue to inform her sculptural practice. The result is an exploration of what objects mean to us as human beings, whether it’s turning an old tennis ball tube into a luxury functioning lamp or transforming piles of disused packaging into a 14-foot shark for a brewery in Scotland. Emmely was previously an artist-in-residence at the Sarabande Foundation, established by Lee Alexander McQueen, where she was awarded a studio connected to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. She has exhibited at Christie’s, Saatchi Gallery, Selfridges and London Design Festival, with collaborations including IKEA, TikTok, End of the Road Festival, Paynter Jacket, Johnnie Walker and Sandqvist. She recently appeared on the BBC’s Interior Design Masters, where her playful approach to colour and materiality brought her sculptural practice into the world of interior design. In Spring 2025, she was invited to participate in an artist residency in South Korea as part of Korea’s International Craft Festival, further developing her research into sustainability and design innovation. Currently, she’s waiting to see if she has made it into the Guinness World Records for creating the biggest ever papier-mâché sculpture. It was very, very big. Too big, if anything.
She received her FA Level 1 coaching qualification in 2020, which led to her working as a coach for Spurs and Juventus and managing The Tate Workers football team, so she’ll happily tell you why 4-4-2 is more effective with a diamond and inverted wingers. The result is a joyous collision of colour, interiors, sport and sculpture.
Website:https://www.emmely.co.uk/
Instagram: @emmely
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Sue Flockhart
“I am a watercolour artist based in Twickenham, UK. I take much of my inspiration from nature and particularly love to paint rainfall and water. My work sometimes hints at an unspoken narrative, inspired by my love of literature and a childhood spent poring over illustrated children’s books”.
Website:https://www.susanflockhart.com/
Instagram: @susie.flo
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Henry Fraser
Henry’s story:
“It was July 18th 2009 when everything in my life changed. It was a glorious day. Blue sky, sunshine, friends all surrounded me on that golden beach. I ran into the sea thinking it was a good depth to dive forward turns out the sea bed kicked up slightly right in front of me. I collided head first and momentarily blacked out. I opened my eyes expecting to stand up, walk out the sea and join my friends. I opened my eyes floating in the sea completely unable to move. It’s amazing to think that one little thing, one brief moment, can change everything.From that moment I had a new life to live. New circumstances to accept and adapt.
Three weeks spent in a Portuguese hospital (they were incredible !) with surgeries to realign my dislocated fourth vertebrae. Two weeks in intensive care in the UK. Five and half more months in hospital before I was back in the real world again.
In that time I’ve experienced so many things.
In January of 2015 I taught myself how draw and paint by holding the utensils in my mouth.
I had a sore on my back that meant I was bed bound for a few weeks.
I was getting bored sitting in bed for days on end so I found an app on my iPad that I could use for drawing by holding a stylus in my mouth and touching the screen. I loved it.
Smart watch straps and bands cater to fashion-forward techies seeking style and functionality. With customizable designs, materials, and colors, these accessories enhance the aesthetic appeal of smartwatchesstraps while allowing users to express their individuality. Ideal for trendsetters, they blend technology with personal flair seamlessly.
When my health had improved I was able to get it of bed and I taught myself how to draw and paint with actual pencils and paint by attaching the utensils to a mouth stick.
As a young child I loved art. But as I grew up I fell out of love with the subject. I lost all my enthusiasm to create.
Without my accident I never would have found that love I had as a kid. The setting in the work is full of innovation and possibility.
Adversity has given me a gift.”
Website:henryfraserart.com
Instagram: @henryfraser0
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Janet French
Printmaker and Papermaker
“My response to the landscape brings nature into the process of making art. I work in tune with the seasons, collecting and processing leaves and fibres which I use to make paper.
Each sheet of leaf paper is unique and is created with an image in mind so that the characteristics of the different leaf species form an integral part of the finished work. Multi layered drawings are screen printed on to the leaf paper to form unique composite images.
The challenge is always to strike the right balance between leaf paper and image, man and environment”.
Website: janetfrench.co.uk
Instagram: @janetfrench_printmaker
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Jayne Gale
MA. BSc, RNLD, HypDip
‘Art is being free of all the worlds heaviness’
“I began a teaching career in 1987, left for community nursing then became an art psychotherapist and hypnotherapist. However chaotic my life and employment has been the one constant in my life has been my art. My paintings bookmarks my life. Some of it settled, some of it crazy. Today I live in the most amazingly beautiful village of Broadway, ready to start the last chapter of my life.
Here in the stunning Cotswolds I have been blessed with some free time to paint, be retrospective and enjoy a slower pace of life again. I think this is reflective in my art work. It seems to have become more joyful, playful and colourful. I do not profess to have a theme or be expert, but I do tend to stay with the same materials: water based oils or acrylics. I have dabbled in pottery, until my kiln died, sculpture, pen and ink and jewellery making but I always come back to painting. It sooths the central nervous system and my soul.
I love painting landscapes and still life, if I can mix the two I will. I am not the best at portraits or animals but they are out there.
I have exhibited mainly in the North; in York, Hull Ferens, Lincoln, Louth, Grimsby, Brigg, Barton and now in Broadway. I gained my MA at Leeds Met, studying in Sheffield.”
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Gwenyth Fugard
Gwenyth’s approach to painting lies somewhere between archaeologist and pattern cutter. Taking a process-led, yet spontaneous approach to her materials, she explores the act of painting with oil on a range of assembled textiles. She employs skills acquired through her time working in fashion and textile design and these have greatly informed the way Fugard approaches her practice. A process of measuring, tearing, cutting, and layering of textiles as she constructs the surface with methods of assemblage, folding, stitching, and painting.
Her paintings emphasize the construction of the painting and at times the excavation of the surface. Oscillating between excess and restraint, hesitancy and assertion, privacy, and disclosure, she applies the paint with various tools onto the prepared substrate. With minimalist restraint and led by the intention of a duality of forces uniting, she explores the notions of opposites and differing components working together. This is often suggested by imposing vertical or horizontal divisions through the surface of the canvas, so that contrasts sit side by side, giving each other strength and support.
It is on the periphery of the painting that her signature details are found and where light is encouraged in or shut out. This notion is an unavoidable consideration in her work and integral to Fugard’s compositions. The indeterminate surfaces with shifting tones of colour and surface contrasts, suggest landscape, not an identifiable landscape, but a sense of territory being navigated. The paintings are atmospheric and evocative, suggesting a landscape of emotion for the viewer to inhabit.
With Fugard’s reflexive and spontaneous approach, the painting’s full identity is not realized until the work is fully underway. Moments are captured in texture and paint where subtle interruptions emerge through her use of materials to create a palpable sense of a living, ‘breathing’ thing – they require the viewer to take the time to contemplate the deeper resonances of her works.
Website:www.gwenythfugard.com
Instagram:@gwenythfugard
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Jahan Gerrard
Jahan is a contemporary painter based in the UK. She creates paintings in response to colour and surfaces, with an attempt to capture the moment and emotion, drawing inspirations from the internal and the external world and on references as broad as from Baroque to Abstract Expressionist art.
Jahan incorporates the use of line and manipulation of colour, which she applies aggressively and in vividly contrasting combinations to her paintings. Jahan has exhibited in several group shows in the UK, France, Spain, and USA. She was included in the John Moores Painting Prize in 2018. Her recent show was held at The Other Art Fair at The Old Truman Brewery in London, 2021.
Website: https://www.jahangerrard.co.uk/
Instagram: @ jahangerrard
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Staffan Gnosspelius
“Drawing and creating artwork is a way for me to digest the world around me and the world inside me.
I’m Swedish and I ride around on a bicycle. I’ve been living in London since 2002. Before that I studied a BA in Visual Communications at Edinburgh College of Art and a foundation course at Chelsea College of Art and Design. I share a studio at Coldharbour Studios in south London with 3 talented artists. I do all my printmaking at Artichoke Print Workshop, just around the corner. If you like printmaking you would like this place.
Drawing is at the core of what I do. Most of the time an idea starts off in the sketchbook. There it stays while it gets processed, redrawn, reshaped, scrutinized and eventually discarded or developed into a print or a project. I draw for pleasure. I doodle when I don’t know what to draw. I draw when things are hard. Then the act of drawing is like a release valve to take the pressure off. Drawing can create some great ideas, but it can also take you down a rabbit hole of a pretty rubbish idea.
Drawing and creating artwork is a way for me to digest the world around me and the world inside me.
Beside all the art-malarkey I like food. Eating food. Cooking food. And growing food.
I’m the proud owner of a densely populated wormery as well as four magnificent compost heaps in the corner of an allotment. I can make a mean tortilla and I have a tendency to disregard recipes.”
website:gnosspelius.com/
Instagram: @gnosspelius
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Sophie Green
Sophie is a contemporary artist, environmentalist and conservationist from the UK, known for her conceptual and often hyper-realistic animal pieces. Green’s work, described by National Geographic as a bridge ‘between photography and reality’, raises awareness for issues surrounding animal welfare and the environment. In an interview with CNN, Green stated that she wanted her artwork to connect people with nature.
Green graduated from the University of Brighton with a first-class bachelor of arts degree and went on to become a full-time artist, after a career in the film and television industries.
Notable highlights of Green’s career include showcasing her artwork at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow and the Houses of Parliament, receiving many prestigious awards for her work and featuring heavily in the media for her outspoken views on the use of art in raising awareness for conservation issues. In 2022 & 2023, Green co-hosted the Wildlife Artist of the Year Awards alongside actor Robert Lindsay.
BROADCASTING
Green co-hosts the podcast Unquestionable, which was launched in 2023. The podcast has featured guests such as; David Baddiel, Jon Ronson, Richard Armitage, Dom Joly, Wendi McLendon-Covey & Rosie Jones.
CONSERVATION WORK
Throughout her career as a fine artist, Green has raised large sums of money for conservation causes, set up a project fund to support charitable projects worldwide and is heavily involved in encouraging future generations in both the art and conservation spheres. Green’s 2022 ‘Impermanence’ collection, which was exhibited at her 2022 solo show at the Oxo Gallery in London, raised almost £100,000 for conservation projects worldwide and was put into the ‘Impermanence Project Fund’, which was set up by Green to specifically support climate change-focused conservation projects.
YOUTH INITIATIVES
Green is heavily involved in encouraging younger generations to take an interest in wildlife and the natural world and sits on the judging panel for several art and conservationist awards. Green is the head judge for the Sketch for Survival Junior competition, run by the conservation charity, Explorers Against Extinction and sits on the judging panel for Sketch for Survival. Green has hosted the International Youth Art Contest, run by IFAW.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Art is a reflection of the self and, for me, my art reflects what is both beautiful and important to me – animals and the environment.
I want people to see my work and admire the beauty of the natural world. Because it is impossible to admire the beauty of the natural world without also reflecting on its vulnerability.”
Website: www.sophiegreenfineart.com
Instagram: @sophiegreenfineart
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Jemma Gunning
“My practice begins with drawing. It is the way I observe, record, and make sense of the world. From these drawings, I create intaglio prints and monotypes that explore landscapes marked by change, from derelict factories, abandoned quarries, to mountains shaped by ice and time.
What connects these places is their sense of impermanence. Industrial ruins carry the weight of past use, slowly surrendering to decay, while mountains embody forces far greater than us, their shifting forms revealing deep histories of erosion and renewal. Through printmaking, I look for the dialogue between human presence and natural process, between what is lost and what continues to emerge.
Though often dark in tone, my prints are not only about decline. They also point to resilience where new ecosystems thrive in wastelands, or the quiet persistence of life in harsh, monumental terrains. Each work is a reflection on our shared heritage and a reminder of the cycles of change that shape both our environment and ourselves.
Alongside my own practice, I’m passionate about teaching traditional drawing and printmaking processes. After completing a BA in drawing and an MA in Multidisciplinary Printmaking, I’ve worked in art education for over 15 years, teaching across a range of settings. I run my own workshops and longer courses from my studio at Centrespace Studios in Bristol and also teach across the country, essentially, anywhere that will have me come along and share what I love doing!
In 2016, I co-founded Bristol Print Collective, a group dedicated to sharing the joy of printmaking with the wider community through workshops, exhibitions, and collaborative projects.
I’m a member of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA), the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), and the Heritage Crafts Association (HCA). Sharing my love of printmaking with others, whether through teaching, community projects, or collaborations, is at the heart of what I do.
Website: jemmagunning.com
Instagram: @jemma_gunning_artist
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Han Guo
At age of 30, Han started to learn oil painting at London Fine Art Studios. She enjoys the process of observing her subject and using the brush to capture her perception and understanding. Han believes that the key to build a connection with the subject is ‘see as it is’, which means to see the subject in its unfiltered reality, devoid of preconceptions. Han pursues the authentic artistic expression by allowing her creative intuition to guide her. Motivated by sharing her profound thoughts and heartfelt emotions, Han engages the audiences through the medium of her paintings.
Website: hanguo.co.uk
Instagram: @hanguofineart
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Nigel Hall RA
Since Nigel’s first solo show at Galerie Givaudan Paris in 1967, he has had over 100 solo and over 300 group exhibitions around the world. Solo shows include the Kunsthalle Mannheim 2004, a major retrospective at Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2008 and The Royal Academy, London 2011. In 2020 he exhibited in South Korea at Mo J Gallery and in 2021 he had a solo show at Annely Juda Fine Art Gallery in London.
Nigel is well represented in numerous public collections including Tate Gallery, London, MoMA, New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum in London, the Los Angeles County Museum, Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Born and educated in Bristol he grew up in the Gloucestershire countryside, studied at West of England College of Art 1960-64 and went on to the Royal College of Art 1964-67. A Harkness Fellowship in 1967 took him to United States for two years, choosing California as his base to experience both the city of Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert.
From 1971 to 1981 Nigel was a lecturer and external examiner of the Royal College of Art, London, and ran the MA sculpture course at Chelsea College of Art and Design. In 1995 he won the Pollock-Krasner Award and in 2001 he had a residency at Chretzeturm, Stein Am Rhein, Switzerland. In 2002 Nigel was awarded the Jack Goldhill Sculpture Prize and a year later he was elected a Royal Academician. In 2017 he was given an Honorary Doctorate from University of the Arts, London.
Nigel lives and works in London. His studio, a 60 feet by 60 feet converted church hall in Balham has been his artistic base since 1991.
Many of his sculptures are viewable outside to the public around London, Cambridge and Yorkshire.
Website: www.nigelhallartist.com
Instagram: @nigelhallartist
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Moira Harris
“My life is enhanced by many different elements: exploring nature, hill-walking, cycling, music, writing, theatre, cinema, literature, travel, exciting new adventures – the list is endless. It is my unique experience of these elements and how they influence my thoughts, feelings, emotions and sensory responses that drives me to make my art.
When I paint, I am exploring and filtering these elements, translating how I experience the world into a new language – the language of my art. Consequently, I believe that neither my art nor my life needs to follow a fixed narrative path. And neither does yours.
We live in an information age where the answers to so many of our questions can easily be found beneath our fingertips. But my work will not provide you with all the answers. Instead, I want my paintings to unlock your imagination and your soul and lead you to venture out on your odyssey of discovery.”
Website:moiraharrisart.com
Instagram: @moiraharrisartist
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Imogen Hartridge
My artistic career began when I decided, at the age of four, to use my mum’s brand new face flannel as a painting rag. Needless to say she was unimpressed by my actions but quite impressed by the outcomes.
After A Levels I undertook a Diploma in Foundation Studies at Winchester School of Art before completing a degree in Product Design at Central Saint Martins. I began my working career as a freelance designer before going on to complete a PGCE in Art & Design. I worked as a teacher of Art in secondary schools for 15 years, moving to Surrey with my husband over 10 years ago.
After our twins were born I returned to my first passion of painting and now exhibit as a member of the Dorking Group of Artists and The Studio, Leatherhead.
I frequently work in oil paint often capturing the beauty of the Surrey Hills and surrounding areas. Preservation of natural wildlife habitats is of great importance to me which is why I also volunteer at a wildlife hospital once a week. I tend to work in a more expressive style using palette knives and rich colours. When the kids are at school you’ll often find me walking in the Surrey Hills with my camera, rescue dogs and a rubbish bag to collect any litter.
I won Bronze at the Bacchus Art Prize in 2019 and was awarded Highly Commended in the Wild Surrey Exhibition 2019. I have taken part in The Society Of Women Artists Exhibition at The Mall Galleries, London in 2019 and 2024.
Website: www.imogenhartridgeart.com
Instagram: @imogen_hartridge
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Harry Hill
Award-winning comedian, presenter and author Harry Hill has been one of the UK’s most respected and inventive entertainers for nearly thirty years. Starting with his own ingenious comedy series on BBC Two and Channel 4, he went on to create the multiple award-winning ITV series Harry Hill’s TV Burp, which ran for ten years. He created and starred in three series of ITV’s Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule, BBC Two’s Harry Hill’s World of TV, was the longstanding voice of ITV’s You’ve Been Framed, and is now the presenter of Channel 4’s Junior Bake Off.
Harry hosts the hilarious hit family-friendly podcast Are We There Yet?, designed to get families from A to B, with Harry interviewing comedians and cultural icons, and focusing on a fascinating theme each week with an expert in the field. As an author, he has written several best-selling joke books and, among others, the popular children’s series Matt Millz. His latest children’s book, How to Be Silly, was published by Walker Books in autumn 2024.
As an artist, Harry has shown his work at the Royal Academy, and his filmmaking credentials have seen him take his film The Last Caveman on a nationwide cinema tour. With long-term collaborator Steve Brown, Harry created Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera, which enjoyed a critically acclaimed, sell-out run at London’s Park Theatre and embarked on a UK tour. His 2025 stand-up show, Diamond Jubilee Tour: New Bits & Greatest Hits, has been a smash hit with audiences of all ages, with the Guardian hailing Harry as a ‘comedy craftsman’ and the Sunday Times describing the show as ‘comedy at its wildly inventive best’.
Harry has won the Perrier Best Newcomer Award, eight British Comedy Awards, three BAFTAs and a Level 4 BAGA Gymnastics Award (forward roll, cartwheel, crab and roundoff).
Website: harryhill.co.uk
Instagram: @mrharryhill
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Melanie Honebone
Melanie is a Wales-based fine artist. She often uses this exhibition as a platform for experimentation. Her work is constantly shifting between deconstruction and reconstruction in an anarchistic melding of disciplines. Her studio currently features old self-help manuals, mannequin heads, cuckoo clock parts, watercolour paints and brass tacks. She has tried her best to remember life before the Secret Art Sale but can’t — has she even missed a year? She says she could always stop, but we all know that’s not going to happen any time soon.
Website: melaniehonebone.wordpress.com
Instagram: @melaniehonebone
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Fran Howard
Fran Howard was born in Sussex but lived much of the time in South Africa from 1946 to 1973. He now lives in London.
Fran Howard took up painting in watercolour in 1991 and finds his subjects in England, Provence, Kenya and South Africa, and other places he visits on holiday.
He particularly enjoys painting scenes with water. He lives on the Thames in Mortlake and paints the river regularly.
He is a member of the Chelsea Art Society, Richmond Art Society and Barnes Artists.
Website: www.franhoward.org.uk
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Jo Hudson
Jo is a part time artist, working in Collage & Mixed Media.
Originally from Lancashire, Jo now based in Somerset. She mainly uses vintage ephemera and photographs in her collage work. Jo also works with found objects and natural materials.
Often surreal, with a dash of dark humour, Jo’s work addresses social and global issues, but sometimes it’s just for fun.
Instagram:@jo_collage
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Vanessa Jackson RA
Vanessa Jackson, on first reading, appears to take the most formal approach to painting, but her use of geometry and its three dimensional function deny the supposed flatness of modernist space. Jackson’s work explores the contradiction of a fully realised space at once pertaining to logic and completeness and uncertainty and unease. The ornamental and optical play of colour acts to both confirm and confuse our sense of perception, constantly shifting between concrete presence and the ambiguity of space beyond our grasp.
Jackson destabilises the very ‘ground’ we most desire, a sense of security and belonging.
Website: www.vanessajackson.co.uk
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Karen Keogh RE
“In the late 1970’s, I trained as an artist, primarily as a potter at Roehampton University in London. Whilst teaching ceramics, I developed an interest in printmaking. Some years later, I studied it at Morley College in London. I consider the excitement of opening the kiln door to be a similar experience to peeling back the press blankets to reveal a new print. Both can be equally thrilling.
I was elected as an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in January 2008. In 2011, I became a full member (RE). I regularly show work at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. My work is held in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, The University of Aberystwyth print collection, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Parliamentary Art Collection.
My 3 plate colour etchings are primarily concerned with exploring the landscape or cityscape. I make visual sense of the scene before me by finding natural patterns and rhythms within it. I describe the colour, using my own interpretation. Using a combination of warm and cool colours, I  create visual depth. Intense colour helps in representing mood, light and space. Within the finished work, I hope to create an atmospheric and individual response.
Etching process
I begin by making sketches of the landscape, mostly from life, and usually in pastels. I then simplify the shapes and explore the patterns until I am satisfied that the image can be developed into a print. I often use three zinc plates (one per colour) to make the finished etching. The technique I use is called ‘intaglio’, meaning below the surface of the metal. The ink is trapped in the etched area and the uncut part remains white.
Starting with the plate for the darkest colour, and using a method known as ‘sugar lift’, I paint directly on the plate with a sugar solution. I then pour varnish over the whole plate, wait for it to dry and immerse it in hot water, where the sugar dissolves and ‘lifts off’ to reveal the image as exposed areas of zinc.
Next, the plate goes into a bath of nitric acid, where the exposed metal is etched away to create the first part of the image. I then add tone or texture known as ‘aquatint’, where the exposed areas are sprinkled with a fine layer of rosin dust, and the plate is put back in the acid. The dust particles resist the bite of the acid, producing a range of tones as a series of tiny dots. The plates for the other colours follow the same procedure.
When I have made all three plates, the exciting stage of printing can begin. Each plate is inked-up with a different colour and passed through the press to transfer the ink to the dampened paper; building-up the final image in a series of overlapping layers. This is where I see the complete image for the very first time. Before this, it had only ever existed in my head.
Using 3 metal plates for each print is labour intensive, technically difficult, and requires a great deal of foresight. But for me, there is no other way to achieve the exciting hues and colour combinations I’m looking for.
Colour is to me the most thrilling element of the printmaking process. It has remained my passion from my early days of making a print.”
Website:www.karen-keogh.co.uk
Instagram: @keogh.karen
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Janette Kerr PPEWA HRSA
Janette is a painter deeply embedded in place, working at the interface between land, sea and historical experience. She writes, ‘My paintings represent immediate responses to sound and silences within the landscape around me; they are about movement and the rhythms of sea and wind, swelling and breaking waves, the merging of spray with air, advancing rain and mist, glancing sunlight – elements that seem to be about something intangible.’
Called ‘the best painter of the sea in these islands’ by Brian Fallon, Chief Critic of the Irish Times, Kerr delights in foul weather. Drawn to the perimeters of land, her work is an index of edges and ledges, exposed headlands and wind-swept seas. She writes: ‘My process of making paintings involves extremes and instabilities: peripheries and promontories – places of rapid change and shifts, both physically and meteorologically’.
Kerr is not somebody who makes meticulous studies of landscape. Beyond mere topography, but with a nod towards the Northern Romantic tradition in landscape painting, her practice remains contemporary and experimental. For the last 12 years, her work has focussed on Shetland, where she has a studio and house on the west side, close to the sea.
She travels extensively – always to wild sea and weather-scoured places that look northwards. Working alongside Norwegian oceanographers at the Meteorological Institute in Bergen in 2015, studying the unpredictability of waves and wind, had a profound influence on her work. In 2016 she sailed along the coast of Svalbard in the High Arctic on board a tall ship called the Antigua with a group of international artists. During 2020 she walked in snow storms on an international residency in Skagastrond, NW Iceland.
Kerr has a strong track record of initiating/working collaboratively, in 2017 working with film and sound artist Jo Millett and sound artist Rob Gawthrop to develop Confusing Shadow with Substance, a film and sound installation based on an 18th century haaf fishing station in Shetland, which toured during 2021/22. During covid, they set up the Stenness Sound Walk using GPS technology on the beach at Stenness, Northmavine, in collaboration with the art collective, Satsymph (see also a review by Alastair Hamilton: sound walk technology).
More recently, in 2022, she received funding from Creative Scotland which enabled her to spend 2 months in Greenland, living in a remote settlement called Oqaatsut, and to initiate a solargraphic community project linking Shetland and Greenland through images and field recordings.
Kerr has a PhD in Fine Art, is an Hon Royal Scottish Academician, RWA Academician, and Past President of the Royal West of England Academy of Art.
Exhibiting regularly across the UK and abroad, her work is held in national and international collections.
Website:janettekerr.co.uk
Instagram: @janettekerrstudio
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Liane Lang, RA
Liane is a mixed media artist with a focus on the conversation between sculpture and photography. She prints images onto unusual materials and objects to explore the tension between the narrative and historical dimension of the image and the texture, scale and presence of the material object. Lang takes a particular interest in monuments, statues and historic spaces and uses a wide range of materials from industrial and domestic found objects to bark, lead and leather, crystal, marble and bronze.
Liane Lang has been elected to the Royal Academy of Art in 2025. Lang studied at National College of Art and Design in Dublin, took a BA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, London, and an MFA at the Royal Academy Schools, London graduating in 2006. She lives and works in the East End of London. She has exhibited widely both in the UK and internationally, including the Royal Academy of Arts, Musée de Beaux Arts Calais, PS1 New York, Kunstwerke, Berlin and Kunstverein Heidelberg. She won the Photofusion Award, the Tooth Travel Award and the Selina Cheneviere Prize. In 2019 she completed a fellowship at Fundacion BilbaoArte in Spain. 2021 has seen a solo show in London at James Freeman Gallery and a residency with Ampersand Foundation and the Wirksworth Festival which culminated in a major installation in 2022.
In 2022 she created a video, sound and sculptural performance at the Museo Guggenheim in Bilbao as part of the Toparte program. In 2019 she exhibited a major installation at Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany as part of Come Back and at James Simon Gallery, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, as part of Nah am Leben. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, such as Royal Academy of Arts, MoMA, V&A, The Art Institute of Chicago, Arts Council England, the Saatchi Collection, Deutsche Bank, Kunstverein Bregenz, Ernst and Young and the Collection of the Kunstamt Spandau, Berlin.
Website: www.lianelang.com
Instagram: @lianelangstudio
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Alexandra Leadbeater
“My work is inspired by the sea from the frothy sea’s edge to the distant horizon. The nearest wave as it crashes or simply washes on the shore is an endless fascination as colour and form exist in a unique moment and my aim is to capture the energy and feeling of being in a wave rather than depicting the sea in paint.
I am increasingly concerned about the plight of the ocean and am currently working on themes relating to plastic pollution and climate change.
I also make paintings of still life objects, often a simple domestic item such as a rusty enamel jug. Life-size with no narrative context, the layered paint and distressed surfaces suggest its use over a period of time.
After a Foundation Course at Bath Academy of Art in Corsham I gained a BA(Hons) in Fine Art at Preston Polytechnic when it was at the Storey Institute in Lancaster.
My first exhibition was a sell-out, selected by Adrian Henri for the Serpentine Summer Show in 1981.
I continue to show in various galleries and non gallery spaces and have work in several private and corporate collections.
I teach small classes and welcome visitors to my studio in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex.”
Website:alexleadbeater.com
Instagram: @alex.leadbeater
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Geraldine Leal
Geraldine Leal was born in 1981, in Surrey, England. Her artwork and sculpture is concerned with materialism and climate change; it’s often set in a dystopian world. Materials include paint, pencil, charcoal, found objects and driftwood, etc.
Her education includes a BA (Hons) Fine Art: Sculpture degree from Northbrook College in Worthing, West Sussex.Currently, her artwork includes paintings of nature. Themes are climate change and the human destruction on planet earth, etc.Website: Website: geraldineleal.artweb.com
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LUAP
LUAP (Paul Robinson) born in Grimsby in 1982 and now based in London is a British multidisciplinary artist working across Painting, Photography, Installation and Performance. He is internationally recognised for a body of work centred on The Pink Bear – a costumed figure used to explore contemporary questions of identity, visibility and psychological presence.
He has collaborated with museums, cultural partners and leading organisations including Nikon, Fortnum & Mason, charity Mind and the University of Europe for Applied Sciences. His practice extends into the public realm with immersive sculptures, murals, community projects and site specific works. Recent projects have included a monumental scale Bear Head pavilion and large public murals commissioned by local authorities. In 2025 he realised The Seeds of Change, a community project with Mind, supported by Arts Council England via a Project Grant.
LUAP’s work has been exhibited at galleries, museums and art fairs across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, and is held in numerous private and institutional collections. Alongside his studio Practice, he supports mental health awareness and creative access initiatives. In 2024, he launched The Pink Bear Scholarship – a one-off €250,000 award created to support 17 emerging artists facing barriers to entry in the arts. These commitments reflect LUAP’s belief in art as a vehicle for connection, care and social change.
Website: www.luapstudios.co.uk
Instagram: @luap
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Clare Mackie
Clare is a highly accomplished and well established illustrator who has been based in Brighton for the last decade, after 30 years carving a successful career in London.
Her clients have been many and varied including Harvey Nichols, Tatler, Chanel, Trish McEvoy, The New Yorker, Country Life, Good Housekeeping, IBM and BBC to name but a few. She has illustrated over 20 books and was shortlisted for the Greenaway Award for her collaboration with Michael Rosen on his Book of Nonsense. Her portfolio also includes illustrations for adverts, greeting cards, magazines, kitchenware and stationery.
Website: https://www.claremackie.co.uk/
Instagram: @claremackieillustration
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David Mackintosh
David designs books and other objects, but mostly he enjoys making things and having them printed. He has worked widely in book publishing as a designer and art director, collaborating with authors, illustrators and photographers. David writes and illustrates his own picture books, and illustrates other texts too. His picture books are published in the UK and Europe by HarperCollins, PenguinRandomhouse, and in the US by Abrams.
Website: www.profuselyillustrated.com
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Emma McClure
Emma McClure was born in London and grew up in Oxfordshire and Cornwall. She studied at Falmouth School of Art, Winchester School of Art (BA Hons Fine Art) and Chelsea School of Art (MA Painting), graduating in 1985. Emma has exhibited extensively across the UK and her paintings are in private collections in the UK, Hong Kong, USA and across Europe. Her paintings have been reproduced on greetings cards by Cannsdown Press, Woodmansterne and the Art Group. Emma lives and works in Cornwall where the landscape and the artistic tradition of the area is a continual source of inspiration, in particular the artists associated with St Ives. Her subject matter is predominantly concerned with landscape, still life and animals, and are often imbued with a gentleness and beautiful sense of colour. Her mother is the renowned Cornish painter Daphne McClure.
Website: www.emmamcclure.co.uk
Instagram: @emmamcclure_artist
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Claire McGinley
Claire works from her home studio in the Isle of Ely where a strong sense of place influences her paintings and ceramics. She works from observation, enjoys keeping a visual diary and working on illustration projects. Claire worked as a teacher also have an MA in children’s book illustration from Cambridge School of Art. Being out in the natural environment is important to Claire and she really likes supporting the valuable work of this charity.
Instagram: @cmcginley449
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Patrick Morales-Lee
Patrick Morales-Lee trained in Fine Art at Plymouth University, graduating in 1998, where he studied under John Virtue. He has received several awards and appeared twice on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. His work is held in private collections, including Soho House.  Morales-Lee’s practice has evolved from drawing into painting, exploring colour, surface and gesture through layering, erasure and revision. Drawing on memory, family and lived experience, his work explores identity and belonging through recurring female figures, domestic objects and self-portraiture, reflecting on the shifting nature of memory, connection and family.
Website: http://www.patrickmoraleslee.co.uk
Instagram: @patrickmoraleslee
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David Nash OBE RA
David Nash, born in 1945 in Esher, Surrey, is one of Britain’s most prolific sculptors and land artists. He studied at Kingston College of Art, Kingston, from 1963 to 1967 and at Chelsea School of Art, London, from 1969 to 1970.
In the late 1960s, Nash moved to the remote village of Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales, where he is still based. In 1973 he held his first solo exhibition in Wales which led to solo shows throughout the UK and across the globe. Nash works primarily with wood; copses are grown and manipulated to form domes and grids of saplings; fallen trees are carved and charred to make sculpture. He documents his progress through drawings, film, photographs and more recently, pastel stencil editions, which reflect the natural formations and shapes in his sculpture.
Nash was elected a Royal Academician in 1999 and in 2012 was artist in residence at Kew Gardens, London. In 2016 he was awarded the Charles Wollaston Award at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association’s (PMSA’s) Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture.
Nash’s work is held in over 80 public collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, Caracas; Uffizi Gallery, Florence; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Tate, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield.
David Nash lives and works in Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales.
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Diana Nicholls
Diana is an abstract artist who firmly believes that everything happens for a reason. She sees her art as a soul-searching journey, expressing emotions, dreams and inner reflections. She loves working on large canvases with acrylics, as well as creating intricate drawings with black ink or metallic pens. Many of her paintings have found homes in private collections in London.
She is a member of the Art & Soul group and some of her artworks have been displayed in various local exhibitions. Since 2016 she has supported “The Secret Art Auction” by donating her artworks.
Instagram: @diananichollsart
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Abigail Norris
After a 20-year career in filmmaking, Abigail embraced a lifelong ambition to study an MA in sculpture at the Royal College of Art, where she graduated in the summer of 2022. Recent highlights include Solo show – Ghosts in the Nursery, Julian Page Gallery 2026; Duo show; Shhh… with Isobel Smith 2026, AGBI Duo show, London 2025, Platforms, London Art Fair 2025, Ingram Prize winner 2023, Tate Late Talk, Soft Sculpture and Material Matters 2023; Finalist for The Mark Tanner Sculpture Award 2023 and BBA Artists Award, Berlin 2023. Winner of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park/Royal College of Art Graduate Award 2022. Notable group shows include Immortal Apples, Eternal Eggs, Hastings Contemporary 2024-5; Discerning Eye, Mall Gallery London 2024; Present, Past, Brun Fine Art London 2023; Unnatural Women WIAF, Mall Gallery 2023; Light Being, Lychee One, London 2023; Unladylike, DContemporary Gallery, London 2023; Artworks Open, Barbican Arts Group Trust, London 2022; she was tipped as ‘one to watch’ by Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times, June 2022, quoting “a powerful lament to the despoliation of nature.
Website: www.abigailnorris.co.uk
Email: me@abigailnorris.co.uk
Instagram: @abigailnorris000
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Jen Orpin
Jen (born Surrey, England,1974) lives in Manchester. She studied at Manchester Metropolitan University (BA 1996) and has had a studio and full time painting practice with Rogue Artists’ Studios since 2000. She is also a Member of Manchester Academy of Fine Art. She co-founded Rogue Women in 2019 and has organised and curated four survey exhibitions of its members and invited guest artists from around the UK. This year sees her organise the fifth iteration of Rogue Women, following this with a stand at the Manchester Contemporary for the third year. She is also the founder of A Small Space Artist Collective based in Manchester and has organised and curated exhibitions for the group in Manchester, Stockport, Macclesfield, London and Bali. As well as being invited into exhibitions across the UK and abroad, she’s also shown in open exhibitions including the Jackson’s Painting Prize, The New Light Art Prize, The ING discerning Eye Exhibition, The Wells Art Contemporary, The Wales Open, The London Group open and the first and second HOME Exhibitions where she was shortlisted on both occasions. She’s also exhibited at art fairs in Manchester, London, South Korea and has been selected on three occasions for the Royal Academy Summer Show. Her motorway paintings have featured in several publications including the Guardian online and twice in the Observer’s New Review and on BBC Radio 6music and ITVX. Jen has had six solo shows including an international solo show in Seoul, in London and a solo presentation at Art Busan, South Korea. Her work is held in private collections both in the UK and internationally and is also held in two public collections including New Art Gallery Walsall and Manchester Art Gallery where she hangs in the Lowry and Valette Room. This year sees the publication of her first book of paintings, spanning 8 years of work made from 2018 to 2025.