Wild and free

1 day ago
2 min read

Words by Mercedes Smith

Inspired by the landscapes, literary poems and stories that ignite the imagination.

Abstract painting with a face-like eye on the right, blue sky above, green hills below, and small pink flowers in a dreamy scene — Bessy’s Cove

Lesley-Ann Eaton paints landscapes that connect to the wildness and freedom of her childhood in rural Ireland and the raw beauty of Cornwall, where she has spent much of her adult life. Through her rich use of colour and a semi abstracted approach to painting, she explores her sense of belonging to these twin Celtic landscapes, and the ways in which a particular landscape can connect us to people, memories and moments in time.

“As an artist, it is important to me to feel an emotional connection to my subject, to physically inhabit a landscape in order to draw and paint it,” she says. “I begin en plein air with colour as my starting point, while my sketching informs line and composition even if, in the end, only a trace of those formal elements will remain in the work. Back in my studio I use my sketches as the framework for each piece, but the colours become bolder and more playful, more childlike. It is a poetic, romantic, idealised world that I am trying to create on canvas, a world that connects to childhood memories of places and people. I feel the beauty of my subject and I use layers of colour to express that depth. My finished paintings are simple in a deliberate way, with an essential naivety. A work may respond to Cornwall’s Prussia Cove, may be like Prussia Cove, but not quite. My practice draws on a kind of Magical Realism inspired by the landscapes and literary stories that ignite my imagination: things that couldn’t possibly happen, happen. I want my paintings to create dreamlike places full of wonder that viewers can inhabit.”

Lesley-Ann Eaton studied Fine Art at Falmouth University and went on to work in the creative education departments of Newlyn Art Gallery, Falmouth University, South London Gallery, and The Royal Opera London. From 2022 to 2023 she studied at Newlyn School of Art, and in 2024 she graduated from the school’s highly respected One Year Professional Landscape Programme. She is represented by Aisling Gallery, West Cork, Ireland, and The Square Gallery, St Mawes, Cornwall.

lesleyannroseeaton.com