Eleanor Woolley

Based in Gloucestershire, Eleanor is a figurative and landscape painter, taking her inspiration from both the urban and rural landscape and the human interaction within it. After gaining her BA Hons in Sculpture at Leeds University she travelled for some time in Asia before coming home to study Furniture making.  Eleanor worked as a Cabinet maker and a restorer before returning to Fine Art painting.
 
As a starting point for her painting she likes to observe what seems mundane, capturing an intensity of people going about their daily lives.  She builds her composition with fluid layers of oil paint.  She says of her work:

‘In my most recent work shadows are becoming more significant, I like to play with how they fall and merge into the foreground.  I love the long shadows created by the early morning or evening light.’

Eleanor spent time backstage at Giffords Circus, photographing and sketching the preparations being made by the performers before the show; the lacing of a boot and powdering of faces.  She was intrigued by the contrast between the calm atmosphere before the show begins, and the crackle of intensity as the curtain rises.

EDUCATION:
Art Foundation, Pittville, Cheltenham, 1997
BA Hons Sculpture, Leeds University 1998-2001
Cabinet Making and Furniture Restoration City and Guilds 2004-2005
Art Restorer 2008-2012
Professional Cabinet Maker 2006-2012
Professional Artist 2010 - 2023