Leading Cumbrian artist Linda Ryle Cooper has been invited to exhibit at a Christmas show at a top Mayfair gallery in London.

Two of her paintings have been selected for the exclusive show at Browse and Derby in Cork Street. They are dealers and agents in British and French paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture with more than 40 years expertise.

The first painting is Bad Hair Day/ Chanel carrier Bag 2 (12” x 18”) . Linda explains: “The unravelling plastic rope was found on Allonby beach and while I was thinking about how to use it in a painting, I put it into a Chanel carrier bag, which I have in my studio and which I had previously painted in 2019. This had been exhibited and sold at Browse & Darby. Seeing it on a daily basis, the title Bad Hair Day came to me and so I decided that was how I would paint it.”

The other painting is Carafe With Dried Poppies  (26” x 18”). Linda says: “This speaks for itself. It is the third time I have painted dried poppies and I enjoyed the  contrast and challenge of the glass.”

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1947, Linda lived and taught in London until 1975  and then moved to the Lake District. She is married to the painter Julian Cooper and lives and works in Cockermouth.

Linda says: “Where possible I work from life, using lighting to create the scene, but  sometimes the transitory nature of the subject, or its placing, involves working from photographs. One painting follows another, then it doesn’t and I have to cast about and see what comes up. I have been working  like this for nearly 20 years after moving into an old house built in 1712. The original features such as  worn  cellar steps, beams and spice cupboards made me want to paint them.”         

Linda last had a solo exhibition in Grasmere in 2016, Time Regained.

The show runs from December 2nd till Dec. 22nd. More details: https://www.browseanddarby.co.uk/

 

Heaton cooper studioLinda cooper