Member Varvara Neiman will be leading a week-long painting holiday at Studio Préniac in south-west France. This fully catered retreat offers structured tuition, demonstrations and guidance in a stunning countryside setting, with on-site accommodation and studio facilities.
Further details: https://www.artsmartuk.com/preniac-france-2026/
I’m a British-Italian artist, based in Buckinghamshire but originally from the rolling hills of Piedmont, Italy. I paint mostly in oils, working from memory, sketches, and those quiet moments when a place stops you mid-step.
My work tends to orbit around landscapes — not the grand postcard kind, but the everyday corners where light, sky, and earth have a quiet conversation. I’m drawn to the shifts in weather, the worn paths, the way a tree can lean into a field like it's got a story to tell.
I’m not much for big statements. I paint what I notice, and sometimes what I miss. Sometimes I’m chasing a real memory, sometimes it’s the feeling of one.
Each painting is a small attempt to hold onto something fleeting — a sky clearing after rain, the gold haze of a summer field, the hush just before dusk. If you find a bit of yourself in any of them, then the painting’s done its job.
