England 1972 - 1993

In 1972, I emigrated to England from America to study with the philosopher J.G. Bennett. After he died, I stayed in the UK, married, and had a son. In 1978 I returned to college to study art and worked in the Life Room while searching for a more personal subject matter that would combine my love of colour and art history. After receiving my BA and MA, I became a senior lecturer in English art colleges and frequently traveled to Tuscany and Umbria in search of early Renaissance frescoes. So that my son's late father and I could both have studios at home, we moved to an old, very large house that we renovated. I developed a passion for gardening and replaced the lawn with small paths that meandered through profusely flowering herbaceous borders I created. The Italian frescoes and my garden provided abundant inspiration for paintings. I laid canvases flat on the floor of my attic studio and used turpentine-thinned oil pigments to create a sense of spaciousness. Because of the oppressive fumes, I experimented with thin washes of watered-down acrylic pigments, but eventually returned to oil paints for their vibrancy of colour and sensuousness.

© Photos and text copyright Dr. Victoria King 2024.

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