I have over the years painted many subjects and there are still many I would like to do. It is alwyas the eyes that fascinate me: they are the soul of us all and are everything to me in painting. It also depends on my reference at the time. From the softness of fur to the texture of an elephant or rhino, it's good to change from one to the other as both present different challenges. That's what keeps the work exciting.

As an illustrator, I was taught how to use Gouache, as this was the studio's preferred medium, I would use very small brushes and pay great attention to detail. As my work sold, I began to gain the confidence in myself and started to experiment with different mediums and brushes. I have changed a lot in the style of my work, from being intricately detailed to loosening up to create an atmosphere rather than an illustration. Experimenting has allowed me to find styles that I enjoy. I find that the subject dictates to me whether or not to paint it photgraphically or to be looser and more contemporary with splashes of paint and big brush strokes. I feel that I have left the "what I should" be painting days behind to concentrate on "what I feel like" painting. This I feel is the only way I will create my own style.

My reference material from the past was from zoos and wildlife parks. As my work progressed, I was fortunate to travel to South Africa to take my reference. I felt that I had achieved the most that I could with the reference available to me in this country, but I also knew it was lacking in many things. I felt I was capable of so much more and the next natural progression would be to travel to see the animals in their natural habitat. The light in South Africa was fantastic and this has given me inspiration for many more paintings. Lyndsey is already planning a return visit to South Africa in June 2004.

Lyndsey currently resides in Derbyshire with her husband and two children. To date her works have sold in the famous Christie's auctions, she's received numerous awards and is currently being published by Solomon & Whitehead. To see Lyndsey's work for yourself, visit the gallery section on this site or check out her exhibition dates to see her in person!

Even as a toddler all I used to do was colour in pictures and draw. At school my art teacher was wonderful and used to tick me in the register as "here" when actually I was working as a figurine painter for Royal Crown Derby. I remember being fascinated with the beautiful faces on the covers of my Sister's magazines and I would try to copy them. I found the eyes challenging and in my work today, it's the eyes that fascinate me.

Whilst working as an illustrator, I used to paint a variety of subjects. This was really the first time since schook that I put paint to paper. A French company commissioned the studio to paint wildlife books for children, the two books soon became a set of fourteen, which was a whole years work for me. The studio had a variety of reference books including those of Robert Bateman and Simon Coombs.

Returning to the studio work after the wildlife books were completed just wasn't the same. I felt I had had a taste of what I could be and wanted to see what I was capable of with out the restrictions of a customer or a ridiculous deadline to meet. I knew I was capable of so much more. I suppose you could say it all started there.

For the next three years I worked part time as a designer for a company called Denby Pottery. This gave me the time to work on my paintings, selling them to the public. Just as my tableware "Storm" was being launched, the demand for my work was growing, so I decided to concentrate solely on my wildlife paintings.

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