Adele Wagstaff
Adele is a painter and printmaker, born in Yorkshire and trained
at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Slade School of
Fine Art London.
She is a tutor with over 20 years teaching experience with a focus
on working from direct observation of the figure, portrait and
still life subjects. Adele teaches at West Dean College,
Arte Umbria, Putney School of Art and Slade School of Fine Art,
London.
Adele was Artist in Residence at Leighton Park School, Reading and
she has undertaken a number of portrait commissions which have
included Canon Geoffrey Brown, St Martin's in the Fields, London
and Lord Alex Bernstein. Since 2006 she has made regular visits to
Luxor, Egypt where she has continued to work on a series of
portraits.
Adele has been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, the BP
Portrait Award and her work has been exhibited in the National
Portrait Gallery, Discerning Eye, Royal Society of Portrait
Painters, Royal West of England Academy, the Canadian Portrait
Academy and she continues to exhibit regularly in London and
throughout the UK.
Her book Still Life Painting in Oils was published by the Crowood
Press in 2012 and Painting the Nude also for the Crowood Press was
published early in 2015.
Describe your approach to teaching.
All students will work individually from the same pose throughout
the course. Individual tutor guidance will be given throughout each
session. There will also be regular group discussions both during
and at the end of the course. There will be a slide lecture on the
tutors work/other artists work and artist dvd's during evening
activities.
Students will gain a greater understanding of colour and tonal
relationships through the study of the observed subject and will
develop skills and knowledge in colour mixing and oil painting
techniques when painting over an intensive period.
What inspires your own work?
The human form, portrait and everyday objects found around us are
my inspiration.
As a violinist I have frequently returned to the theme of musicians
rehearsing, including working alongside the Chilingirian Quartet
while at West Dean and I continue to have a number of residencies
with the Rehearsal Orchestra in both London and Edinburgh during
orchestral courses.