DE ALWIS, Elizabeth Martland

1969 - ?

As Elizabeth Rebecca Martland, she was born in the Sudbury district of Suffolk on 30 March 1969, daughter of Wilfred Paul Martland (born November 1942), banker, and his wife Jane Heather née Cooper, who married at Sudbury in 1966. Elizabeth studied at Ipswich School of Art and at the University of Brighton, gaining a B.A. (hons) in Graphic Design & Illustration in 1990 and, whilst completing her degree course, illustrated her first book 'Tales of the Woodland Harvest' by her uncle, Ashley Cooper. Following her graduation and first art exhibition, she visited Australia recording her trip with daily sketches and paintings and, on her return to England, illustrated several further books including 'Solo' and 'The Huntrods Eye' and went on to complete a Post Graduate course in Teaching Art and Design. Elizabeth spent ten years as head of art at St Paul's Methodist College, living at Freeport in the Bahamas where she taught art and captured Bahamian life on large canvases developing a vivid and strong use of colour in her work. She married in the Bahamas, Jagath De Alwis (May 1868-) and had two children, Maya and Oliver and whilst there designed and painted sets for The Regency Theatre, Grand Bahama and various school productions and pursued a successful painting career alongside teaching. Together with her husband and children, she returned to Suffolk in 2004 after hurricane Frances destroyed their home in Bahamas. As a result of living in The Bahamas she now paints with brightly coloured oils from her studio at Boxford, Suffolk and constantly finds new inspiration from the ever-changing Suffolk sky and her surroundings in the Suffolk countryside. Elizabeth has exhibited her work successfully for 25 years, including at Gainsborough's House Gallery; Smiths Row Gallery, Bury St Edmund's and abroad including in Greece, France, and The Bahamas. As Elizabeth Martland she exhibited at the 'Visions of Sudbury' at St Peter's Church in 2009 pen & ink 'The Red Bike' and is a member of the Suffolk Open Studios from 1 Homefield, Swan Street, Boxford.
Website: http://elizabethmartland.co.uk

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Works by This Artist