RHS Harlow Carr Artist in Residence

Ian Burke was born in Saltburn and grew up in Redcar before studying Fine Art at Newcastle University. Having completed a Master’s at Goldsmith’s College London he established a career in teaching art at schools including Queen Catherine’s School, Kendal, Barnard Castle School and Rugby School.  He was the Drawing Master at Eton College for twenty years until December 2021.  Ian continued to devote himself to his own practical work throughout his teaching career, producing a series of one man shows and group shows.  He exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy Summer Shows and won several national prizes.   

Ian now devotes himself to producing paintings and prints in his studio at home on the North Yorkshire Moors. Much of his work is inspired by the local environment, particularly the nearby village of Staithes on the Yorkshire coast where Ian lived for four years.  He is interested in the local community and traditions of the area as much as the landscape and wildlife. 

During lockdown, he took the opportunity, while at home, to do some large paintings of the surrounding gardens and landscapes and also incorporated memories of gardens he had recently visited while travelling in Scotland and Northumberland into large scale canvases, which, creatively, was an exciting new direction. 

Hilary Burnett Cooper began her career as a watercolour landscape artist; she now creates figurative and floral scenes in mainly oils and acrylics. She studied graphic design at Leeds Art College but considers herself to be a self-taught artist.
 
A Yorkshire-based artist, Hilary has won numerous national awards including The Rexel Prize, The Daler-Rowney Award, The Clairefontaine Award and Best in Show at the Great North Art Show in 2018.

Nel Whatmore is an award-winning artist who paints in pastels and oils. As a fine artist, she is well known for her floral paintings and abstracts.

During her time as Artist in Residence in 2017–2018, Nel created a collection of paintings called A Year in The Garden. She spent time painting in different locations around the garden exploring many of the plants species and the changing seasons.

Anita Bowerman is well known for her brightly coloured watercolour and acrylic paintings using her signature technique of painting with natural items such as fallen twigs, leaves, moss, grass and feathers.

Anita spent her time as Artist Residence in 2018–2019, painting well-known garden vistas, from the famous Winter Walk to the vibrant spring colour and beauty of the Streamside painting with the natural items she finds.