Curriculum Vitae
CHRIS FORSEY


I began my art career as an illustrator in a publishers studio after studying art and graphics in Bristol. I constantly trrive to extend and add to my skills in water-based media. I have exhibited on numerous occasions with the Royal Water colour Society and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour. At the 2006 RI exhibition I was awarded the F DONALD BLAKE AWARD for a contemporary watercolour by Lincoln Joyce Fine Art . I am a tutor of painting and run my own painting classes in Surrey and Sussex, and in the Greek Islands. I also give lively and informative demonstrations to art societies and groups throughout South East England and am delighted to undertake commissions of landscape subjects and house portraits.

I endeavour to re-appraise my style and technique on a regular basis and this has led me towards a mixed-media approach to my work, combining watercolour, acrylic, pastel and gouache. I am exhilarated by colour and surface and enjoy creating textured layers of dry-brushed colour that allow hints of complementary hue to glow through, thus creating an exciting surface of scattered, broken colour.

I specialise in landscape subjects, exploring the themes of man-made alongside the organic: buildings by water, structure emerging from a rocky cliff. Downland, coastal images of both the UK and the mediterranean, café scenes and townscapes, sometimes figures are included to bring that human touch. In all cases I am trying to capture the essence of a scene at a specific moment in time, season or time of day always endeavouring to bring passion, immediacy and validity to my work.
I have worked as a painter and exhibited regularly for the last 20 years. Here are some highlights;

1984 Exhibited with both RI and RWS at Mall Galleries and Bankside, London
1985 Exhibited with RWS
1988 Exhibited with RI at Mall Galleries, London
1989 Commissioned to produce watercolours for British Gas Calendar
1990 Joint show with Barbara Crowe RI
1991-98 Group shows in Oxford, Wareham, Dorking, Chichester
2000 Exhibited with RI
2001 Solo show at Iona house gallery, Oxfordshire
2002 Group shows in Dorking, Brighton, Henley
2003, 2004, 2005, Solo show at Summers Art gallery, Dorking
2006 Exhibited with RI and awarded F Donald Blake award for a contemporary watercolour
2007 Exhibited with the RI and awarded the Matt Bruce award for light and colour in a painting
2007 Solo exhibition at The Pump Gallery, Dorking