Raising a glass to lifeboat crews

ART
Skies of Bembridge
are artist’s inspiration
Artist Charlotte Hodge-Thomas studied in London and Manchester and
enjoyed years of hectic city life on the mainland – but when she and
husband Stewart had their first child Edward in 1999, all they could think of
was getting back to their roots on the Isle of Wight.
The couple, both Island-born, arrived back in 2001, initially living in Ryde
and then moving to Charlotte’s native Bembridge in 2002, the year that their
second child, Howard was born.
Charlotte, who had stopped painting when she first became a mum and had
no intention of pursuing her art again until Howard started school, suddenly
found that the magnificent skies in Bembridge were just too inspiring for her
to ignore.
“The skies here are just awe-inspiring, changing all the time, and I found
myself wanting to get started on my painting much sooner than I had
planned” she says.
After a brief refresher course in watercolours, Charlotte picked up her
brushes again and recalls: “I suddenly realised I hadn’t lost it, and once I
started, it seemed to open the floodgates to ideas I had tucked away over the
years”.
Charlotte, whose earlier work was mainly textile art in vivid hues and
textures, began working in acrylic paint, but with the same trademark bright
colours.
Before long, she felt ready to seek out commissions – and one of her first
approaches turned out to be hugely successful, in a strangely fated kind of
way.
Charlotte completed 16 canvasses for restaurant owner Ian Whitehead, who
wanted them for the opening last summer of his new Fulton’s venue in
Bembridge.
The paintings, which feature food and wine as well as abstract images, were
completed in a record three months, which meant painting at least one a
week between May and August.
“It meant working some very odd hours to fit it around the children, but it
was great to have such a free rein on what was my first major commission
since coming back to my art” she says.
The curious thing is that as a student in the late 1980s, Charlotte had
actually worked part-time as a waitress at what is now Fulton’s (back then it
was the Square Rigger) and recalls thinking how she’d like to have a painting
of hers hanging there.
Now that her work is hanging there, it’s caused something of a stir of
recognition for her, with diners commissioning her to do similar pieces for
their homes.
“It’s odd” she says, “that when I used to live here, nobody ever knew I was
an artist, and now suddenly there is this local recognition, which is really
nice”.
The recognition is likely to grow, too, since Charlotte is staging an exhibition
of her work at the Quay Arts Centre’s café wall from March 28-April 29, and
has also been interviewed for a slot on Island artists scheduled to appear this
year on TV.
48
Meanwhile, her link with restaurateur Ian Whitehead will continue this year
as she has agreed to work on a series of paintings for his latest venture, a
restaurant based at the old Osborne’s male outfitters shop in Union Street,
Ryde.
This is due to open this summer, and her artwork will reflect the building’s
history as a traditional tailor’s.
Charlotte, whose parents own the Hodge and Childs motor dealership in
Bembridge, is more than happy to be back close to her roots.
“It’s the only place that Stewart and I wanted to bring up our children, and
the fact that I seem to have found this local recognition for my art has been
just an added bonus” she says.
· Examples of Charlotte’s work can be viewed on her website,
www.charlottehodgethomas.co.uk