A Creative Collaboration, Stephen Jenkinson and Lia Duarte Jenkinson

Stephen Jenkinson & Lia Duarte Jenkinson are a couple who, respectively, are an artist and a weaver. Stephen paints vibrant abstracts and impressionistic landscapes, always in acrylics – employing a variety of more unconventional painting techniques. Lia weaves in wool, cotton, linen and other yarns, producing a range of woven items. More recently, some of their work has been the result of experiments in cross-collaboration.

Stephen

During my working life in education, my only real creative outlet was designing and writing teaching materials; and then later, being responsible for, and working with designers, producing publicity materials for the teaching centres that I managed.

In 2001, my wife Lia and I and our young family settled in the Somerset Levels; and after retiring I started exploring my artistic impulses, dabbling in various genres, before finally settling on my real passion: painting. Inspired by abstract artist and tutor Kate Freeman in Pembroke, I started producing abstracts and impressionistic landscapes in acrylics, using a variety of painterly techniques. I am fascinated by the use of restricted colour palettes; and try to explore the power of producing images with vibrant, atmospheric colour compositions to reflect the places and landscapes I have seen.

I have exhibited around Somerset and my paintings hang in collections in the UK and in Southern Europe. I am now also an art tutor running individual and small group painting workshops and courses.

 

 

 

Lia

Originally from Portugal, I lived in many different countries before finally settling in Somerset with Stephen and our young family. Having been a teacher for the greater part of my life I continued to do that in England.

I had an early interest in textiles, learning embroidery, crochet and knitting as a child. Soon after retiring, I acquired and restored an old loom; and taught myself how to weave. I now use several floor & table-top looms. I have also been developing my skills as a spinner and a dyer, using local wool as much as possible, and natural dyes made from plants in our garden.

I see my weaving as a creative process and design both at my desk and at the loom. My cushions, scarves and rugs now adorn chairs, necks and floors around the UK and mainland Europe! When not busy working on commissions, I love to weave just for the sheer joy of weaving. I have exhibited in Somerset & Devon.