Eve Pettitt
fine artist
Painting in oils from observation, imagination and memory, Eve's work explores the exquisite wonders of nature and the human form, delving into both their presence and absence in space. Influenced by her lifelong studies of yogic teaching and spiritual thought, she searches to crystallise on canvas the unselfconscious present state of being of the natural world; a sense of mortality clashes with vivid embodiment. Her work is delivered with potent emotion and is often autobiographical, exploring memory and reflecting her state of mind.
Eve's practice is fundamentally concerned with colours and their relationships, she explores what happens when two colours meet, how they dance side by side and what occurs at the borderline. Colour is both the subject and the form in her paintings. Understanding colour is essential to her creative process, each hue sings and resonates with its neighbour, creating a rhythm within the composition. Drawing inspiration from the shallow planes of modernism, Eve builds form through geometric shapes, clear facets and defined edges. Each of her paintings expresses a personal approach to the dynamic articulation of colour, and this ravenous enquiry results in works that are exuberant and deeply expressive.
Drawing is an important part of her process. Eve is constantly sketching, seeking
to capture not only a moment in time or a fleeting shape but also the circulating air and the perception of space and light. She draws in order to better understand the world; the unfolding can be extremely cathartic.
Eve studied at The Heatherley School of Fine Art and The Royal Drawing School, her work is held in private collections worldwide. She is an elected member of the Chelsea Art Society, was awarded the New English Art Club Scholarship and was selected for the The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize twice in 2023 and 2017. Eve has exhibited widely including with The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The Society of Women Artists, National Open Art, The New English Art Club, Chelsea Art Society and Jackson’s Open Painting Prize. She took part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year and her portrait was chosen by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
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Prizes
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Winsor & Newton & Paul Smith's Foundation International Art Prize 2024, shortlisted
Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2023, shortlisted
Jackson's Painting Prize 2023, longlisted
Diana Armfield RA Drawing Prize 2022 highly commended
Member of Chelsea Art Society, Elected 2021
Wedlake Bell Prize 2021 shortlisted
Awarded New English Art Club Scholarship 2019-2021
Diana Armfield RA Drawing Prize 2020 highly commended
The Moth Art Prize 2020 highly commended
Jackson's Painting Prize 2018 finalist
Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2017, selected
Exhibitions
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21 June-20 July - 50/50 Exhibition, Unit 1 Gallery, W10
12-17 June - Chelsea Art Society Summer Exhibition, SW3
14-16 June - Open Studio, Artists at Home
28 March-1 April - Barnes Easter Art Fair
4 March - Charity Art Sale, Bedales, Hampshire
Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize
Chelsea A-Z, SW3
The Shape of Shadows, Fitzrovia Gallery, W1
Chelsea Art Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Artists at Home, Open Studio
Chelsea in Colour, SW3
Chiswick in Pictures, W4
Chelsea Art Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Artists at Home, Open Studio
Triptych Exhibition, The Bakery Gallery, W11
Hogarth Annual Exhibition, Chiswick
Atlantic Contemporary Art Exhibition at Haworth Art Gallery
Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Hogarth Annual Exhibition, Chiswick
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Artists at Home, Open Studio
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Chiswick in Pictures, Clayton Hotel, W4
Artists at Home, Open Studio
Diana Armfield Drawing from Observation Exhibition, Kew
Herbert Hedley Autumn Exhibition, Petersfield, Hampshire
Green & Stone Summer Exhibition, SW3
New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Chelsea Arts Society, Annual Exhibition, SW3
Artists at Home, Open Studio
Hogarth Health Club, Chiswick
Hammersmith & Fulham Arts Festival
The Artistry House, Preston, Lancashire
Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019, Sky and Channel 4
Jackson's Emerging Artist Prize, Longlisted for 3 paintings
Artist in Residence, Riverside, W6
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Utopia, Riverside Building, W6
Hammersmith & Fulham Arts Festival
Artist in Residence, Riverside, W6
Figurative Painting Exhibition, Two Brydges, WC2
Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, NW3
National Open Art Exhibition, Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
A Letter In Mind, Charity Exhibition, Oxo Tower Gallery
The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize 2017, N1
Heatherleys Summer Exhibition, SW10
Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Heatherley's Printmaking Exhibition, SW10
Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
Heatherley's Summer Exhibition, SW10
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Candid Arts Trust Portrait Exhibition - Winner, EC1
Solo Exhibition, Holland Park Lawn Tennis Club, W14
The Strand Gallery, Crossing Boundaries Beyond the Figure, WC2
Chelsea Arts Society Annual Exhibition, SW3
Heatherley's Summer Exhibition, SW10
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Eve took part in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019.
'Such a privilege to paint Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson & an enormous honour that she chose my painting!'
