Stephen Yardley studied illustration at the London Institute in the early 1990s and has since worked with a number of national publishing houses and design groups, creating a variety of illustrations for magazines, book jackets and graphic design. He was also a painting tutor in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan for ten years until 2010. Much of Stephen’s work is inspired by the landscape close to his home - farms, woodlands, fields, tracks, trails and hedgerows. He loves the drama and beauty of the Welsh landscape, in particular the Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coastline and the rich and varied landscape and architecture of Britain and France. His paintings move in and out of abstraction but the themes remain the same - the effects of light and weather on the landscape. He is not really worried about botanical accuracy, but more importantly that his paintings have a sense of place. He loves the untidy tangle, the ‘awkwardness’ of nature, especially when lit by the pinks, oranges and purples of the emerging morning sun or the mysterious shadows as the light fades in the early evening. Stephen prefers to work in the studio, mostly from memory and imagination, aided by drawings made in the landscape. He uses a variety of media including watercolour, gouache, acrylic, emulsion and, increasingly, collage, often mixing them in order to express texture and colour. He works quickly but leaves the paintings around the house, often modifying them over a period of time (or even destroying them if he doesn’t feel they work!)