Elizabeth Akehurst

Elizabeth Akehurst’s career did not start with a paintbrush, but with mathematics. After graduating from the University of Kent with first-class honours in 1972, she pursued postgraduate studies at Newcastle and Cambridge, where she was part of the first cohort of women admitted to King’s College. Despite this academic path, a fascination for painters and paintings remained an integral part of Elizabeth’s life.

After a short career in full-time teaching and starting a family, Elizabeth began exploring this lifelong passion. She exhibited her work regularly in the early 1990s and went on to teach art for several years, eventually acting as Medway Co-ordinator for South East Open Studios, before setting these commitments aside to concentrate on her own practice.

Elizabeth’s figurative work draws on lived experiences, from intimate meals with friends, watching builders and decorators at work, to attending concerts. Her landscapes are inspired by the unique topography of the Medway area, with its mix of mudflats, reedbeds, and industry. She also finds inspiration in the rural charm of Shropshire and the Norfolk countryside, or from simply sitting in the gardens of friends.

Her paintings arise slowly from a long period of work. Rapid preliminary studies are initially made in pen, ink, or watercolour. These sketches are used to produce numerous smaller pieces exploring form, composition, and colour. Some may develop into larger watercolour, gouache, or collage works. As the subject becomes ‘known,’ Elizabeth moves on to oil, creating a series of five or more paintings at a time.

Sometimes the subject is considered from a viewpoint taken within the subject itself, or is drawn from a bird’s-eye view perspective. Paint is applied using a range of brushes, rollers, or even a palette knife. Additional line is added - a vital compositional element in Elizabeth’s work - with charcoal, oil pastel, or the end of a brush. Texture and depth are created in planes; drawing the paint forwards and backwards animates the surface.

The paintings are worked over many times as the artist moves from one piece to another, experimenting with different forms until some element of that original event has been captured. By this time, the subject has acquired a life of its own.

Elizabeth’s work can be found in collections worldwide, including New York, Amsterdam, and Paris. She has also exhibited in solo shows across the UK.