About the artist
My name is Lois Thompson, and I live just a short walk from the seafront near Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire, UK. I can see the Isle of Wight from the beach on a clear day.
I work in various mediums including watercolour, oils and acrylics, mixed media and textiles. I particularly like using watercolour, a traditional medium, in contemporary ways.
I like the way that watercolours merge and flow into one another, creating surprising explosions of colour. You are never really in control with watercolour, so you paint with a paintbrush in one hand and a sponge in the other. You can of course use the paint in a more controlled way, but the best things happen when the paint creates its own surface quality. I also like the juicy quality of oil paint, laying glazes or working with different tools, creating surface texture. Painting in acrylics means quicker drying times.
I get excited by the intrinsic beauty and richness in people, places and objects. I enjoy painting things we take for granted, which helps us to see them with fresh eyes. There is so much in life to be curious about, and to enjoy and share. I aim for excellence, and I need to know my work has integrity. Therefore, I believe in charging people honestly, with a proven formula for charges.
I always drew as a child; it was my happy place. As a wife and mum, it was some years later when I started painting and drawing again. It began when I was asked to create a playgroup in one of the most challenging areas in my locality. The children's art was, of course, the main event, but I myself began to paint huge murals and textile pieces, which everyone seemed to like. I attended a foundation art course and then completed a degree in visual studies at my local university, graduating BA (Hons).
I then went on to teach art at secondary school level at a local Independent school. The students' grades slowly began to rise and they were attaining As when it was time for me to move on.
I then taught drawing, watercolour, and mixed media sessions to adults in The Penguin Café (on the seafront in Lee-on-Solent) and also in my own home. Some of my work is even about the local area.