DRAPER, Jill

1948 - ?

Gillian Mary Draper was born in Lothingland, Suffolk in August 1948, daughter of William George Parr and his wife Carol O née Crawford. As Gillian Mary Parr, she married in Lothingland, Suffolk in 1971, Peter Roy Draper (1949-) and works under the name of Jill Draper. Jill studied for her degree at Leicester College of Art in Textile Design specialising in printed textiles, but became interested in breaking down the barriers between ‘Art’ and ‘Craft’. For many years painting with fabric dye on satin and free machine embroidery were her chosen mediums but putting aside her machine and has been working with combinations of watercolour, pencil, oil pastels and water-soluble crayons. Her inspiration has remained constant, the sea, landscape, and the changing seasons. A painter in oils and acrylics of broads, rivers and seashore with figures, animals, and birds. Her work is narrative and reflects a strong connection with the locality, from the edge of the Broads to the seashore with richly coloured glazes which depict real and imagined scenes. Her influences range from the Norwich School artists to early 20th Century American art, and her paintings are part representation, part imagination. Figure painting and portraiture are a more recent area of interest, and Jill also accepts commissioned work. She has exhibited in Suffolk with solo exhibitions at Snape Maltings Galleries, Artspace Woodbridge, Ferini Art Gallery, Pakefield and in Norfolk at the Holt Gallery also showing at Bell Gallery, Bungay and elsewhere. Her work can also be seen at Southwold Gallery and Lion House Gallery. Lavenham and is a member of Suffolk Open Studios from Holton, near Halesworth. Her work is held in both national and international collections.

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Works by This Artist