Atelier Jill Rousseau: Jill is English, born in Southampton in 1950. At the age of 11, she was awarded an Art scholarship, which encompassed all disciplines of 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional work. She has painted consistently since then, and at times diversifying into ceramics, working with porcelain.

From the mid 1970's, Jill travelled constantly. Firstly, she spent several months in the Caribbean exploring its culture, and then returned to England for a short time before setting up home for 2 years in the Channel Islands. Her quest for adventure took her to Kenya where she met and married her husband, Michel, a Geologist. They left Kenya together in 1986 and after 3 years in Berkshire, settled in Dorset, where they opened a gallery. Their gallery became one of the most successful in the South of England, with many clients travelling from London to purchase works. With the gallery running successfully, Jill was able to return to full time painting, always her first love. In October 2004, Jill and Michel sold their gallery and moved to France.

 

Her work: At the moment, Jill works mainly in acrylic, built up with layers of paper collage. Her inspiration comes mainly from the elements of fire and water, inspired by her husband's love for rocks and volcanoes. Colour and texture are paramount when preparing a new collection.

Artist statement: "Painting is my passion; the colours I work with reflect my moods. My idea of Heaven is to shut myself in my studio, immersed in my thoughts, play my music too loudly (according to my husband) for total concentration. I never wear a watch when working, so 10 minutes quickly becomes 3 hours. My style, up to now, has been very free with long sweeping movements; however, I am working on a series of paintings, to be shown in France and in England this year, which are structured and angular, a completely different discipline for me. I find this change of direction both fascinating and challenging."