Ophelia Redpath

Ophelia Redpath has had a career spanning nearly 40 years. During that time she has exhibited work in over 100 shows in Britain and overseas, painted several murals and produced two books.

 She was born in 1965 in Cambridge. From 1983 to 1984 she attended the Art Foundation Course at CCAT, studying under the tutelage of the acclaimed illustrator, Warwick Hutton and the highly respected painter, Julia Ball. After further studies of Music and Education at Homerton College, Ophelia took up painting full-time.

2014 Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Prize for Children's Literature.

2021 Winner of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year.

2023 Winner of the Environmental Artivism Category for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year

2023 Winner of Editor's Choice Award for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year

 Ophelia lives in Northamptonshire with her daughter, Sally.Education

INSPIRATION

Ideas approach artists in mysterious ways. They never seem to arrive on time or in the place we look for them. But we need to look, and we need to arrive on time just in case one turns up.  

 When I hear something on the grapevine which gets a narrative going, I find a scene within it and let it grow. As a result, much of my work is based on hearsay, via reading, films, concerts, conversations, travels, or simply an inner vibration which needs to turn into something living. Perhaps my work is a form of painted gossip.  

 There are special influences, such as jazz, which I have always loved. When I listen to the great pianist, Herbie Hancock, for example, the chords changes set certain colours off in me, the melody affects my use of line, the mood or message helps structure the composition and subject. 

 My deepest passions, though, stem from the possibilities offered up by the Natural World. At a time when life for many species of plants and animals hangs in the balance, I feel impelled to celebrate their existence and to question the relationship we have with them. 

 When I work, there is always an initial struggle to work out exactly how to say what I want to say. But once in a blue moon, a complete painting quietly appears in my head, fully detailed, with no apparent logic or meaning. This hardly ever happens, but when it does, I copy it down immediately.