Maria Bennett

I make use of all the surrounding countryside, hills and coastline, I draw and sketch plein air with a wide variety of media, instictively putting down shapes, marks and tones that fill my head. Often not working with any photos just the feelings and atmosphere of the elements and place I visit.

The mark making is usually without a brush at all, working with many different utensils and found twigs in a spontaneous way.

After many years of bringing up my family and maintaining my career, I feel I now finally have time for my inner creativity. My artwork today has taken on a more fluid, free and textured approach to rural landscapes on the North Yorkshire Moors. Being next to the sea or on the moors feels like a retreat and totally relaxing environment. Now a little older, my observation skills well developed I enjoy seeking out unusual vistas and viewpoints, incorporating stone farm buildings and remote moorland that tell a story, houses hidden in the landscape, busy farmers getting on with work, dry roads lined with fences, stone walls and gates. It fills me with a frantic passion to paint whether it is strong sun or gloomy stormy weather.