Oxfordshire Limited Edition – August 2019

August 2019 |OxfordshireLimitedEdition| 211

withcats,afondnessforwhichtheartist
shareswiththedoomedqueen.Andifthat
isn’tenoughofacoincidenceforyou,she
“inhabits”oneofthenearbyAnneBoleyn
cottages.Howlonghaveyoulivedthere,I
enquire?“NotaslongasTudortimes!”
Wendybeginseachprojectwithasmall
pencilsketch,followedbyanintermediary
drawingaccompaniedbynotes.Shepaints
ontohandmadewatercolourpaper,a
productwhichblendswithherenvironmental
concerns.“Thepaperisexquisiteto
workonandnotheavilychlorinated.
Itispredominantlycottonratherthan
trees,andbeinghighlyabsorbent,itholds
thepigmentbeautifully.”
Similarly,watercolourscauseno
atmosphericharm,pluseachparticleisso
finelygrounditallowslighttoemanate.Once
complete,herpaintingsareprintedonto
linencanvaseswhich,“havealifeaslongas
humanhair.Linenisahightensilefibrethat
withstandstremendousonslaught”.
Aswewalkaroundthestudiowhere,
Wendydeclares,shespendsmoretimethan
athome,Istudytworecentfigureswhich
havebeengivensimilarlyintricateattention.
EnidBlytonisacombinationofthesortof

‘Ihaveacuriosity

aboutorigins,

notnecessarily

historic,butwhat

bringsustowhere

weare’

ARTS CULTURE