Lillias August RI

Statement

A quote from John Ruskin sums up my thoughts about what I do far better than I ever could  – “There is a strong instinct in me, which I cannot analyse, to draw and describe the things I love – not for reputation, nor for the good of others…. but a sort of instinct, like that for eating and drinking”  John Ruskin, letter to his father, 2 June 1852.

I want to honour the things I’m painting. They absorb me and, however mundane they may seem, I want to give them an opportunity to speak and be valued – to re-present them. Most things have some sort of personal resonance or connotation. Like smell or sound, they’ll evoke different feelings and memories in each of us.

Painting my local fenland landscape has influenced my still life – it’s flat and unpretentious with everything laid out in front of you. The objects that I paint are ordinary everyday things. Painting them close up and often in multiples, is a way of concentrating directly on them with no distraction – a way of forcing observation as if they were in a museum.

My working method is not immediate – there’s a lot of planning. I use a restricted palette and work on a painting as a whole, gradually building up tone and colour and moving from large washes to more detailed structure until I achieve the sculptural quality that I want.

Methodology

As a committed watercolour painter, August enjoys the effects of both applying and lifting the paint, and the tension between control and chance. She works rather ponderously, laying wash upon wash and building up the work slowly. The effect is often very still and sculptural unlike looser, more instant techniques. August uses a limited palette of nine basic colours. She uses brief sketches, notes, photos and memory for her landscape work, building up paintings in the studio and often returning to the subject as work progresses. Her still life work is done in the studio from life.

Bio

1955  Born on 5 May in Stroud, Gloucestershire

1973 to 1977  BA (Hons) Fine Art, Goldsmiths College 

1977 to 1979 Postgraduate Diploma (CNAA) in History of Art and Design, Birmingham

2000 to 2005  Project Artist, Suffolk Cathedral Millennium Project

2006  Elected Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2013 – 2024 RI Council RI Council member

2014 – 2023 RI Honorary Secretary

Memberships

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) – Member

Institute of East Anglian Artists (IEA) – Honorary Member

Society of East Anglian Watercolourists (SEAW) – Patron

Scholarships, Awards, Prizes

2020  The Baohong Artists’ Watercolour Paper Award for an RI Member

2019  Megan Fitzoliver Brush Award, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2019  Escoda Barcelona Award, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2017  ‘Dry Red Press Award', Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2010  ‘St Cuthberts Mill Prize’, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2006  ‘Frank Herring & Sons Easel Award’, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2005  ‘Countryman Prize’, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

2002  ‘St Cuthberts Mill Prize’, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours