Gail de Cordova

Gail de Cordova was born in Malta and then moved to Cornwall (UK) where she spent her childhood. Her ancestors came from Southern Spain – hence her name. She attended Exeter College of Art and Design (1979-81) where she gained a BA(Hons) in fine art. She has been painting consistently ever since and currently lives and works in Cambridge (UK). She has worked at Kettles Yard (the arts centre where Jim and Helen Ede built up a distinctive collection of modern art and which is now a department of Cambridge University) and taught art at Bellerbys College for six years. She now works as a full time artist. She has had many local exhibitions and also shows in London, Sweden and Spain

'My inspiration begins with the beauty of the natural world and how we connect with it at a deeper level. I start with a blank canvas or paper on the floor, deciding which way up it will go at a later stage. Slowly I build up layers of different materials, which may include acrylic paint, plaster, paper, chalks oils and pastels. I don’t have a preconceived idea of how the painting will look so that images, textures and colours just begin to form. The challenge is achieving a balance between conscious decisions and what arrives intuitively.