Josephine Wall (born May 1947 in
Farnham,
Surrey) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
fantasy art
Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a specific school of artists, geographical location or historical period. It can be characterised by subject matter – which portrays non-realistic, mystical, my ...
ist and
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.
Biography
Early life
Educated at Farnham and
Parkstone
Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of t ...
(
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
)
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
s, she studied at
Bournemouth College and worked at
Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery is a British pottery brand, now based in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England. As a company, it was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside in Dorset, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations ...
as a designer and painter of
Delphis Ware.
Her pottery figures include characters from
Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawl ...
's ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'' and
mythological creatures. Pieces of this work now feature in a book on the history of Poole Pottery.
Paintings
Her paintings are mainly influenced and inspired by
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...
, with lesser influences from
surrealist
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
artists such as
Magritte and
Dalí, and the
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
of the
pre-Raphaelites.
A number of her works were exhibited in
Teheran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
during 1974 and her first solo exhibition took place the following year in
Swindon. Josephine and her paintings were the subject of a special feature on
Southern Television in 1990. Following a visit to the Spring Fair in Birmingham in 1993 she signed contracts with firms in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and
Switzerland to publish her work as prints, posters and cards for worldwide distribution.
In addition to a range of Limited Edition Prints, Josephine Wall continues to work with her exclusive licensing agents Art Impressions in California who began licensing her work around the world in 1996. They are responsible for finding the contacts and setting up licensing deals. It has been used for greeting cards, calendars, posters, stained glass, craft transfers (“T” shirts), journals, stationery, cheques and cheque covers, mugs, magnets, suncatchers, treasure boxes, wall murals, scrapbook paper sets, fabric squares, figurines, and puzzles.
In 1998 five original works were selected for an exhibition at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
's
Mall Gallery entitled “Art of the Imagination”. Josephine has subsequently joined the circle of artists in the society of the same name.
Member's Art of The Society for Art of Imagination
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Since then her works have been selected by Ron and Yvette Emard (Founders of Courtyard of Romance) for exhibitions at New York Art Expo and have been the subject of a book “The Fantasy World of Josephine Wall”, jointly published by the artist and Courtyard of Romance. Pop singer Britney Spears has used a number of Josephine's images on her website. Britney also purchased a number of Limited Edition prints and Josephine is working on an original painting for her. Ron and Yvette Emard have also been featured in at least two of Josephine's paintings and are the proud owners of the largest private collection of Josephine Wall originals in the world.
Timeline
1967 - Following three years at Bournemouth College studying Fine Art, Josephine worked at Poole Pottery as a designer and painter of Delphis Ware (now very collectable), later modeling animals to be displayed at Harrods in London. Her pottery figures include characters from Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" and mythological creatures. Certain pieces of this work now form part of a book on the history of Poole Pottery.
1974 - A number of larger paintings were exhibited in Teheran and Tokyo.
1975 - Held her first solo exhibition in Swindon.
1990 - Following a period during which she brought up her three children whilst still exhibiting both locally and abroad, a second solo exhibition was held at the Mayfield Gallery in Bournemouth. Also during this year, Josephine and her paintings were the subject of a special feature on Southern Television in the UK.
1991 - Held her third solo exhibition at the Mayfield Gallery.
1993 - Following a visit to the Spring Fair in Birmingham she signed contracts with F.J.Warren based in Hitchen, England and Wizard and Genius from Switzerland to publish her work in the form of framing prints, posters and cards. These prints are distributed worldwide.
1995 - Josephine’s painting "Dance of all Seasons" was selected for the cover of W&G’s “Cheerful Joys” catalogue.
1996 - Signed a licensing agreement with Art Impressions based in Los Angeles, California, which has led to many new outlets for Josephine’s images. Many products are now produced including cards, stationery, puzzles, journals, bookplates, back to school products, mugs, needlepoint kits and posters, as well as limited edition prints.
1998 - Five original works were selected for an exhibition at London’s Mall Gallery entitled “Art of the Imagination”. Josephine has subsequently joined the circle of artists in the society of the same name, with the possibility of many more exhibitions worldwide.
1999 – Many products are now produced including cards, stationery, puzzles, journals, bookplates, back to school products, mugs, needlepoint kits and posters, as well as limited edition prints.
2004 – First exhibition at the New York Art Expo, resulting in 6 images being selected for use as Hand Embellished Limited Edition Prints for sale at auctions on board cruise ships around the world.
2005 – Exhibition at New York Art Expo at which my first book was released “The Fantasy World of Josephine Wall”.
2006 – Leanin’ Tree requested a series of “Zodiac” images which were completed in 6 months, and have proved to be very popular. They were exhibited all together at Courtenays Fine Art Gallery in Westbourne. Seven were sold that evening, and the rest soon followed.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, Josephine
British speculative fiction artists
English women painters
People from Farnham
Living people
1947 births
21st-century British women artists
21st-century English women
21st-century English people