FIONA MILLAIS

Born in 1960, Fiona Millais graduated from the University of Newcastle with a degree in Fine Art in 1984. Fiona's paintings use the landscape or still life as a starting point for the composition but are rarely a direct representation of the primary subject. She is intrigued by how landscapes are shaped. Often produced on the completion of a journey - either abroad or within the British Isles - the pictures evolve in her studio from memories, drawings and notes. From these travels and walks in the countryside she will collect objects such as stones, leaves and feathers which, when painted, create layers of texture, colour and interwoven history. Music and literature sometimes provide additional source material becoming interwoven into the composition. Fiona will paint and repaint canvasses so that traces of original images remain present and her work undergoes a process of metamorphosis. In 2004 she was commissioned for the P&O Liner ‘Arcadia' to produce 8 large works. Her work has been extensively exhibited in private galleries. Fiona is the great-granddaughter of the pre-Raphaelite painter Sir John Everett Millais.