For those of you who know her work, you will find that Addy has moved on from what you might expect. She is painting beautiful and complex landscapes composed of layers of oil paint which individually retain both substance and translucency. The effect is to capture the fluidity of the firmament - sunlight spilling through clouds, earth and sky bathed in luminosity. Her subject is the landscape that she encounters around her which she recreates in the studio as photographic panoramic ‘sketches’. From that visual reference point, Addy creates paintings that echo her memories, thoughts, dreams and emotions – moments of ‘peak experience’. There is a strong autobiographical element in her work that colours her compositions with titles such as “The memory of the moment we first met”. An artist invites us to share their journey, yet the success of a painting is also determined by their ability to invite us to make our own. Addy Gardner is chasing beauty, and is successful on both counts.
Moving seamlessly between configuration and abstract expressionism, Addy Gardner invites the viewer to journey between an earthly landscape and a canvas of dreams. Her painting aspires to 'peak experience' where the viewer releases their sense of self to an awareness of a greater unity. Addy commands an ability to create form, transforming the colours of earth and sky to a spectrum of light and ambivalence. Working in oil on canvas, Addy's paintings are infused with vitality, imparting energy and a sense of joy.
Jenny Blyth Fine Art
Addy Gardner is a British artist whose practice centres on the emotional, psychological, and ecological dimensions of wildness. Her work draws deeply on her relationship with natural places, guided by the belief that rewilding and restoring natural environments is integral to the future of our world. Gardner is particularly interested in the human impulse to seek out nature, recognising within herself a profound, almost primeval longing for landscapes that feel visually and mentally expansive. This sense of openness and reconnection forms the core language of her paintings.
Originally trained in art following an Art Foundation, Gardner was set to pursue a BA in London but instead chose to study psychology, an academic shift prompted by a desire to make sense of a significant family event. Her background in psychology now plays an important role in her artistic approach, informing her understanding of nature, wellbeing, and self-actualisation. This influence is especially evident in the titles of her works, which often reference her personal connections to the landscapes she depicts. She has also expanded her ecological focus through studies in Art and Ecology at Node in Berlin.
Gardner returned to painting full-time after becoming a mother in 2007, crediting her children with giving her the confidence and resolve to pursue her artistic career with renewed commitment. Since then, she has exhibited widely in solo and group shows across London, Oxford, Edinburgh, and Plymouth, in both gallery contexts and as a self-represented artist. Her practice has included two artist residencies, membership of the Plymouth Society of Artists, and the selection of her work for a well-known home improvement television programme. She also aspires to pursue a master’s degree in the future.
Working primarily in mixed media, Gardner creates semi-abstracted landscapes using oil paint, collage, and textural experimentation. Her collage materials often originate from the environmental books she avidly reads, embedding layers of meaning within the work. She is passionately engaged with the physicality of oil paint and the expressive possibilities of mark-making, embracing each canvas as a dynamic response to landscape.
Gardner’s work is held in private collections throughout the UK and internationally. She lives and works in Oxfordshire, creating from her studio situated at the edge of her own intentionally wild garden.
