Two Cockerels
By Rosie Villiers-Stuart

These cockerels are painted to display their marvellous plumage and colourful markings. The two stand in an upright pose, the centre of attention. The background is panted to fade away centring focus on the birds. The closer to the bottom of the painting, the more fragmented the brushstrokes become, not only alluding to the chunky grass below but also to the artist’s method and techniques of painting. Rosie Villiers-Stuart is a painter, teacher and workshop leader. She mostly paints the landscapes and wildlife of Scotland and Northern England and has exhibited widely for several decades. Rosie spent a year at Ruskin School of Drawing but is otherwise self-taught. “I work best outside and have developed practical ways to continue painting in all weathers. I paint directly, rarely making conscious attempts to "interpret" what I experience. I hope my work reflects my delight and a deep sense of the privilege of being in these places and encountering their birds and animals”