Copyright Cranborne Chase Pictures 2005-2008©
CRANBORNE CHASE PICTURES
I was born in 1927 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. At the age of sixteen I knew that I wanted to be a painter. Fortunately my father was very interested in art and did some very good water colours of the surrounding Derbyshire countryside, and he gave me a lot of support and sent me to Chesterfield School of Art were I remained for 3 years. The training was very thorough with lots of drawing from the life, and the classical casts. We also studied perspective anatomy and achitecture.
At that time after the war it was difficult for a young student to get into London art colleges as people from the Forces were coming out in droves, and quite rightly had preference. However I was found a place at Goldsmiths School of Art at New Cross, part of London University; there I stayed for 3 years and studied painting under the very persceptive eye of the Principal Clive Gardener and his excellent staff; I was particularly inspired by Len Appleby and Carol Weight. and Cecil Waller. I leant how to look and use my eyes.
After leaving Goldsmiths I married Christopher Row and had four children. We lived in London, Lewisham and Orppington, and finally The New Forest - and now Edmonsham. In all these places I have painted and had exhibitions. I chiefly paint still life and landscape in both oil and water colour.
Mavis Freer