Donna Brewins-Cook

I draw my inspiration from the constant possibilities of painting and the challenge of its unpredictable nature in conveying a subject. I am most interested in the process of painting and the expression it provides, translating a depth of feeling that is both personal but also shared with the viewer.

Psychotherapy has directly influenced recent work and renewed my interest in abstract expressionism with the freedom of colour, line and allowing the subconscious and memory to guide my work. My current work explores the raw emotions I have experienced through personal challenges including the corrosive effects of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), infertility and a recent incurable auto-immune disease diagnosis. Whilst these experiences are highly personal, I believe that by exploring those emotions in my work I am creating a voice where one might normally be at risk of being suppressed and hidden.

BA (Hons) Fine Art - 1995 - 1998: Sheffield Hallam University

September 2023 - Kreiva Contemporary Art Gallery, Bridlington, East Yorkshire: 'People & Place' painting exhibition,
9th -30th September 2023.
'Wave' & 'Mudflats & Saltmarsh' oil paintings both selected.

November 2019 – Fronteer Art Open Exhibition
‘Meadow, sea & sunlight, St Ives 2004’(oil on wood, 2019) exhibited at Fronteer’s ‘Open Exhibition’, November 2019 at Gallery 35, Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

2019 – ArtBound Summer Group Show – ‘Tales of the Iconic’ x2 paintings selected, ‘Meadow, sea and sunlight, St Ives 2004 (oil on wood 2019) & ‘Wonderful memories of Rhodes, 2002 (oil on canvas 2019). Hebden Bridge Town Hall, West Yorkshire Exhibition dates: 9th July to 5th August 2019.

2019 – Solo Show entitled: ‘To the land beyond’: I was one of x6 artists selected for solo shows at Mersea Barns during 2019-20 exhibition program. I had to create a series of work based on my reactions to the estuary and mudflats around Mersea Island in Essex.
“Through this exhibition, my paintings attempt to convey my response to the emotional depth of experience that comes from living on the edge of land.” 15 June – 26 July 2019 .

2019 – ARTbound Summer Group Show. The exhibition theme this year is ‘RADIANT’ and ‘May Blossom’ (oil on ...