The Artist
Annette Davies
A life lived in paint and weather.
Annette Davies is a Welsh fine artist working from a converted stone barn on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Her practice is rooted in the landscape that surrounds her — the long ridges, sudden weather and intimate woodland of mid-Wales.
Trained in classical oil technique and informed by years of plein-air study, Annette builds her paintings slowly. Underpaintings in raw umber are followed by weeks of glazing, scumbling and considered impasto. A finished canvas may carry twenty layers of paint — and the quiet patience of an entire season.
Her work is held in private collections across the United Kingdom, in Ireland, Germany, and the United States. She paints to commission, exhibits regularly across Wales and the South West, and welcomes visitors to her studio by appointment.
Practice
How a painting comes to be
01
Looking
Weeks of walking, sketching and photographing — sometimes the same hill at different hours, in different weathers, until a composition begins to settle.
02
Building
A toned ground, then an underpainting in raw umber to set the architecture of light and shadow before colour is invited in.
03
Living with it
Layer by layer over weeks. Glazes for depth, impasto for breath. The painting is signed only when it stops asking for more.
The Studio
A barn on the edge of the Beacons
Tall north-facing windows, a wood-burner for winter, and a view straight onto the hills. Visitors are welcome to see work in progress, browse the racks, and stay for a cup of tea.
Visits are by appointment so we can give each guest the time they deserve.
