Evelin Winifred Aston, later Evelin Leigh (22 January 1891 – 1975) was a British artist known for her sculptures who also painted and worked in a variety of techniques.

Biography

Aston was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in England, one of the four children of a local housebuilder and his wife. After a private education Aston studied arts and crafts at the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

where her teachers included

Bernard Fleetwood-Walker Bernard Fleetwood-Walker , PPRBSA, (22 March 1893 – 30 January 1965) was an English artist and teacher of painting. Bernard Fleetwood-Walker (invariably known as B. Fleetwood-Walker) was born on 22 March 1893 in Birmingham, United Kingd ...

and William Bloyne. During the 1920s, Aston taught modelling at a school for blind children in Birmingham while continuing to practise her art. She exhibited works at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

, with the

Royal Scottish Academy The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) is the country’s national academy of art. It promotes contemporary Scottish art. The Academy was founded in 1826 by eleven artists meeting in Edinburgh. Originally named the Scottish Academy, it became the ...

in 1934, with the

Society of Women Artists The Society of Women Artists (SWA) is a British art body dedicated to celebrating and promoting fine art created by women. It was founded as the Society of Female Artists (SFA) in about 1855, offering women artists the opportunity to exhibit and ...

throughout the 1930s and also with the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a re ...

. Aston was a frequent exhibitor with, and elected member of, the Birmingham Art Circle. Her Paris Salon exhibit, the sculpture ''The Adoration'', was highlighted in a number of French art journals. Active as an artist into the 1950s, Aston continued to live in Birmingham throughout her life, mostly in the

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

district of the city.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Evelin Winifred 1891 births 1975 deaths 20th-century British sculptors 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands English women sculptors