Art East Anglia
Art East Anglia provide courses in Norfolk. Our courses explore subjects such as portrait painting, printmaking, Plein Air landscape and drawing. We host art classes, short painting courses and workshops.
Our tutors include Andrew James RP, Ian Rowlands, Tom Stevenson ROI, Claire Haward NEAC, Patrick Byrnes, Mark Chen, Anastasia Pollard RP, Adele Wagstaff, Julia Hawkins, .
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Patrick Byrnes
Featured Tutor
Patrick was born in Busan, South Korea in 1984 and raised in La Grange, Illinois. He earned his undergraduate degree in Art History and English from the University of St Andrews in 2006. Patrick moved to New York in 2010 to train under Jacob Collins at Grand Central Atelier. Following the completion of his studies in 2014, he worked as an instructor of painting and drawing in the atelier’s full and part time programs. In 2017 Patrick relocated to Paris, France, where he now lives and works. His work is exhibited at galleries in New York and Massachusetts. www.patrickbyrnespaintings.com
Adele Wagstaff
Adele Wagstaff has been shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the BP Portrait Award, and her work has been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, Royal West of England Academy and the Canadian Portrait Academy.
She trained at Newcastle University and the Slade School of Fine Art where she focused on working from the nude in sustained poses. Her practice continues to explore the human figure, anatomy and portraiture through drawing and painting.
Adele has written two books: Still Life Painting in Oils, 2012, and Painting the Nude, 2015, both published by the Crowood Press.
Sam was educated at Harrogate College of Arts and Technology, and Cleveland College of Art and Design. Sam has exhibited in the 2003 BP Portrait Award, was shortlisted for the Bulldog Bursary in 2009, and has exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters every year since 2010. Sam was elected as a Member of the RP in 2013. After graduating, Sam began to engage more fully with the disciplines of drawing and painting from life. Sam has painted the playwright Alan Bennett, and since early 2013, Sam has drawn eight Fellows of Trinity College Cambridge, including Sir William Timothy Gowers.
Andrew James
Andrew is a highly sought after Artist and tutor, who has worked on many commissions of prestigious public figures. Winner of the Carroll Foundation Award in 1998 and the Changing Faces Award in 2013. Andrew featured on BBC’s Star Portraits and was elected Vice–President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2008.
Mark Chen
Mark Chen is a Taiwanese portrait painter based in London, known for his impressionistic approach to portraiture. With classical training from Taiwan, Russia, and London, he excels in both drawing and painting. Mark's works have been exhibited regularly at prestigious galleries like the Mall gallery, and he was recently awarded the Bowylers drawing prize for his exceptional figure drawing. Influenced by artists such as Nicholai Fecchin, Ambrose Mcevoy, and Ilya Repin, his portraits capture the essence of the human spirit, reflecting moments of vulnerability, strength, joy, and introspection.
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Julia Hawkins
Julia Hawkins is a figurative artist based in Surrey, her modern impressionist style is well recognised and works are sought after by collectors both in the UK and internationally.
A Member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the New English Art Club, she is a regular exhibitor at the Mall Galleries as well as in private galleries. Her work has been selected for the Royal Portrait Society, Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize and Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize. Julia also shows her works with Chelsea Art Society and locally where she lives.
Julia is as an experienced art teacher and in recent years has taught public courses in drawing and oil painting at the Royal Academy, the St Ives School of Painting in Cornwall and The New English Art Club. She is a tutor at The Art Academy London, and also teaches at the New School of Art and Penn Studio School of Art.
Claire Haward
Clare Haward studied at art at Camberwell College of Art and Leeds University. After an initial career in Arts Management, Clare returned to her painting practice, spending a year at Cyprus College of Art and several years at the Jerusalem Studio School. She has undertaken painting residencies in Germany and Italy, has been awarded an Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Scholarship and is an elected member of the New English Art Club. She currently lives in London, where she teaches painting and drawing to adults and is represented by 155a Gallery.
Anastasia Pollard
Anastasia Pollard trained at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Florence Academy of Art. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions in Pennsylvania and London. Her portraits have been seen in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition (2005, 2006 and 2007), winning the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture, 2009. Pollard’s work has been included in the BP Portrait Award Exhibition in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
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Merrie Curtiss-Fuller
Merrie Curtiss-Fuller was born into a family of artists in 1981. She accompanied her parents to countless exhibitions and developed a passionate and totally absorbing desire to paint. In 2004 she was awarded a first class B.A. Hons in Fine Art from Christ Church University and went on to obtain her Master of Arts at the same university in 2005. Her work has featured in many prestigious national and international exhibitions and resulted in her winning important awards.
Suzon Lagarde
Suzon Lagarde is a figurative artist (born France 1994) who recently relocated to rural Pembrokeshire. They have lived in the UK since 2016 where they found their love for painting, training in Portraiture in London. Their practice stems from direct observation, only to then drift away from the source material and wander in less controlled directions. Reality gets infused by imagination and memories, each painting becoming an opportunity for self-portraiture as these intuitive processes tune in with and reveal the artist’s inner world. Suzon paints with oils, gouache and acrylic, always playing with medium, surfaces and view points to cultivate the feeling of observing something for the very first time with the right balance of control and letting go.
Suzon regularly exhibits in the UK and internationally and has recently presented their third solo show. They appeared multiple times on Portrait / Landscape Artist of the Year, painting Geraldine James and Mirren Mack, as well as Blackpool in 2023. They’ve won the LeartherSeller Prize twice for their work in gouache showcased with the Royal Institute of Watercolours, and altogether have exhibited regularly at the Mall galleries London, selected by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters & Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Keen to share their passion and learning, teaching is an integral part of Suzon’s practice.
Tom Stevenson
Tom was born in 1984 and is based in Devon where he works from life to create paintings that follow a path between figurative and abstract styles to explain the light and colour of his surroundings.
Tom is drawn to subjects such as the coast, figures and the dramatic skies seen over the surrounding countryside. Away from home, Tom frequently paints the architecture and busy streets of London and abroad.
In his paintings Tom relies upon the uncontrollability of oil as a medium to build a fresh and organic surface. His work is underpinned by a strong composition and is often constructed around a simple compositional idea or collection of colours which form the starting point and focus of the painting.
Ian Rowlands
Ian Rowlands was born in Liverpool in 1959. He studied at Norwich School of Art 1980-83, under the supervision John Lessore, John Wonnacott and Edward Middleditch. This was followed by three years graduate study at the Royal Academy schools, 1984-87. Ian has focussed mainly on portraiture but more recently has embarked upon studio paintings based on the landscape. An interest in the raw materials of the artist led him into teaching and writing and he has contributed to the number of publications including ‘The Guardian & Observer guide to painting’ 2009, ‘The Artist Magazine’ and
‘The Artists’ & Illustrators magazine’. He is the author of ‘Foundation Course, life drawing’, published by Cassell in 2005. He has exhibited widely, including The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The Ruth Borchard Portrait Prize and The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize where he was awarded a runner up medal in 2016.
Aside from his studio practice Ian teaches at Heatherleys School of Fine Art, The Slade Summer School and short courses, and The Royal Drawing School.
Laura Smith
Laura Smith completed her BA at The Slade School of Fine Art in 2003 and went on to win the Richard Ford Award from The Royal Drawing School in 2004. She graduated from her MFA at The Slade School of Fine Art in 2012, winning the Clare Winsten Memorial Award. An elected member of the NEAC, she has exhibited widely including at the Royal Academy of Art, Flowers Gallery, Jerwood Space, 155A Gallery and Browse & Darby.