Irena Lingard
The featured artist for September is IRENA LINGARD
Irena says “I was brought up in USSR and was shaped by Perestroika, so in a way I am Soviet. I loved Saint Petersburg but I am now used to Lincolnshire and have my life here. It was always thought that I would be an artist or musician. My grandmother took me to the Art Studio, an art school for talented children, and I studied Fine Art at Lyceum 190.”
“After school I became an apprentice to a ceramicist and I learned the secrets of ceramic restoration. After that I went on to study at the Academy of Art at St. Petersburg Teachers’ Training University. It was the time of Perestroika and we had a very experimental course that allowed us to work and to experiment as we wanted. After that I took a course in Art Therapy and Pedagogy at Ottersberg near Bremen. I subsequently taught World Art and Culture History at St. Petersburg colleges and the Institute of Applied and Performing Arts.”
“After moving to Britain, I studied and worked as a tutor at the Grimsby School of Art. I had my own craft business and shop. I now live in the village of Ludford on the Lincolnshire Wolds with my husband Paul, in a tiny house with a wonderful garden. I draw and paint because it is like washing my face in the morning, a normal everyday act…but I dream about a ceramic studio again.”
