Fiona Cotton is a contemporary realist painter focusing on still life painting and portraiture.  In recent years, she has been a finalist in many art prizes such as the EMSLA, the Ravenswood and the Mosman Art Prizes as well as the 2018 Percival Portrait Prize and the A.M.E Bale Art Prize.  She began her art training at a young age with professional artist Mary Martin in the UK before moving to Australia in her teens.  After graduating in Fine Art and Drama (Flinders), she taught English Communication in many contexts, all the while painting whenever she could.  She has now returned to full time painting after leaving her academic position at UNSW, Canberra. She has been lucky enough to travel extensively to study art in Europe, Asia and the USA.  She studied part-time at the Canberra School of Art from 2010 to 2013 and took intensive courses in Italy at the Florence Academy of Art (2014, 2015) and the Charles H Cecil Studios (2016). She has also attended workshops with master painters such as Cesar Santos at the Florence Studio (2017) and Michael Klein (2018) at Rosemary’s Brushes in Yorkshire.

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ARTIST’S STATEMENT

In my still life paintings, using as far as possible the techniques of the Old Masters which I have been studying in Italy and elsewhere, I explore the gentle beauty of everyday objects, many of which hold poignant memories of family, friends and time spent together.  In a world of noise, speed and distraction, I try to create a quiet space where creative, joyful thoughts can flourish through contemplation of an image rich with colour and light.