Poulton solo

Press, 19 February 1986, Page 20

Poulton solo

Recovering from a serious illness last year, Janet Poulton had only two things in mind. The first was to resurrect her neglected and much loved garden; and the second to prepare for exhibition her paintings, never before shown collectively. Brought up on a remote sheepstation in North Canterbury between the Waimakariri and Eyre Rivers, her feeling of belonging to the country and the land and her need to express these feelings in paint have always been a part of her. In her young days she regularly made the long and tiring journey from the family home to the Canterbury School of Art to Cecil Kelly’s landscape classes.

Marriage, family commitments, personal illnesses and travel took up much of the following years. In the course of her overseas travels she was invited to show her

work at a prestigious London gallery. Again family needs encroached upon her time and the exhibition had to be forfeited. ; It was not until 1959 that she again applied herself to serious study and once more enrolled * as a student at the Ham » School of Fine Art. She ; was still living in the > country and having to • commute to her classes > under tutors, Bill Sutton ' and Rudi Gopas. ' A move to Sumner, and ’ subsequent membership ’ of the Alpine Club led her < to participate in many ; outings from which she derived inspiration for ; her work.

An invitation to exhibit with The Group in 1965 and 1966 showed confidence in her ability as a painter and an acceptance of her work by the art community. This work will also be on show. The exhibition at the C.S.A. Gallery continues until March 2.