Hi, I’m Cheri. I’m the founder and owner of Wildwood Arts. I’m a professional artist and illustrator and enjoy helping others begin their own creative journey and sharing my knowledge and understanding of creating and working across a wide variety of mediums and subjects. Having taught for over 20 years now and being a fully qualified teacher, I think I can say I’m quite experienced in helping students develop and flourish. From discovering where they are on their journey, to where they want to be; what drives them and what holds them back and how together, we can overcome any challenges they might face.
I have been a professional artist for 17 years and have been lucky to exhibit with the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and the Society for Graphic Fine Art in London.
I established Wildwood Art Gallery in 2017 and have supported West Country artists in their careers and gained a wide understanding of the art market and knowledge of art practice.
Teaching for me is about more than teaching techniques, colour theory, perspective, composition, mark-making, colour mixing etc, it is about the person. For me it is taking a student from where they are now to where they want to be and making it as enjoyable and fun as possible.
It doesn’t matter if someone is beginning from no experience at all or if they are returning after a long break, it’s about how we move on, grow, develop and ulitmately building confidence to experiement and continue learning.
Practising art is a wonderful activity that has been shown to have mental and physical benefits. It allows a space to breathe: it takes us away from our everyday life and worries, leaving us recharged and calm – similar I suppose to meditating. It’s a little time away- just for you.
The mental benefits of art are now well documented and I have seen first hand the effects creating something can have on individual’s mental health. It is this more than anything that makes teaching so worthwhile for me.
Learning something new, creating something from nothing, taking time out just for you and making new friends, that is what my classes are about.
I have seen many art lessons around demonstrations in large groups, where it is about copying the style of a professional artist who is demonstrating and where it is often more about socialising than art. As a qualified teacher, my approach is completely different. My class sizes are only 5 maximum. I demonstrate to explain something specific to the individual as it is needed. I teach all mediums and encourage trying different ones until you find what you enjoy and what suits you best. Subjects are chosen by each student, for themselves, not chosen by the teacher or the group as it is in many other art classes. You have to want to paint a subject and to understand it – everyone has different interests and so choose different subjects.
In such a small class, I can work one to one with each student and meet their needs. The pace of learning is set individually, so no-one ever gets left behind or feels intimidated. Part of learning comes from growing in self-confidence, continuing to want to learn comes from enjoying what you are doing. I can teach you how and support you all the way. I do hope you will join me.
Cheri