About Marion Derrett

I am inspired to paint because I see so much beauty and wonder in the world, even in everyday objects, people and animals. I love colour and, when I am painting regularly, I see many more colours around me, as well as small details that are often missed. I create my paintings because I wish others to see the world through my "artist" eyes. I love to paint people and animals, as it’s such fun to try to capture personalities. I feel the same way about flowers – some are upright and self-assured in their beauty, whereas others may be rather old and droopy, but each has its own character. Even a little cottage or a lone tree in a landscape can be given a personality, and through this the painting tells a story.

I like paint in layers, employing underpainting techniques, and owe much to Julie Friedman and Jeanne Smith, who are both amazing artists and teachers. I also much admire Nancy Medina’s flower paintings; she has taught me how to paint brilliant coloured florals in oil, using an underpainting of transparents, with opaques added later applying a wet-in-wet technique.

Whilst living in the USA I worked mostly in pastels but arthritis in my thumb joints became a problem so, since returning to the UK, I now work almost exclusively in oils. I have come to love oil painting as much as I did pastel painting.