Artists Sally Winter and her sister Clare Rose are waxing lyrical about the childhood that inextricably shaped both their lives and indirectly helped create a dynasty of Dorset artists.
Now an exhibition called Family Lines is running at Lighthouse Centre for the Arts in Poole and showing the works of seven artists from four generations of the remarkable Winter family.
But where did it all begin? Standing in the Bournemouth studio of her painter son Tom, Sally told me: ‘When we were growing up our mum, Rita Senior, was always drawing or painting. It was what she did. If you stayed still for a couple of minutes, she would be drawing you. It was almost inevitable that we would follow suit.’ Clare agrees, saying: ‘There were five of us and I suppose out of necessity, and for her own sanity, mum used to keep us busy with creative tasks.’
Rita, whose work is also on show in Family Lines, died aged almost 90 in 2017, but her lifelong influence lives on. Sally has been a highly successful professional printmaker for decades, while Clare is a longstanding painter of note. Both Sally’s sons, Ben and Tom, followed in the family tradition and now their children - Ben’s son Sam and Tom’s daughter Millie - are making waves on the art scene too.
The Winters share a strong, almost spiritual, affinity with the Dorset coast. Sally and her husband Pete moved to Bournemouth in 1971. Ben was born the same year, and Tom followed a couple of years later. It has been their home ever since, and a base from which to paint, print and draw. It is a powerful magnet too for Clare Rose who lives in Pembrokeshire in Wales, but frequently visits. She also shares their love of Dorset.
As the generations gather in Tom Winter’s studio, just an estate agent’s stone’s throw from the beach at wild and wonderful Hengistbury Head, there is much excitement and many memories to share.
Fundamentally the Winters all have the same story to tell. That of a childhood steeped in art - painting, drawing, printmaking - and their deep love of the coast and countryside developed over many years of living and creating art in an area of stunning natural beauty.
Tom’s studio is a hive of creativity stacked with canvases, paints and art equipment and, crucially, just a short stroll from the coast that has inspired them all.
They speak of the powerful influence of light and shadow, a love of nature, ancient cliffs, sky and sea, knowledge passed from parent to child to grandchild.
The importance of this is best expressed by the younger members of the clan. For 24-year-old Sam, family visits to galleries and growing up ‘with paint, pastels, decent brushes and surfaces on which to play’ was hugely influential. He recently graduated as an engineer with an interest in eco-design, but painting remains a vital part of his life.
Walking the Dorset coast, he says, has been of prime importance. ‘Getting lost after a lengthy walk on the Purbecks has possibly coloured my feel for the fading light and the large sky perspective that I’m repeatedly drawn to.’ he reflects. ‘The elusive moment between fading daylight and full darkness is a recurring motif.’
While 23-year-old Millie, who is training to be a teacher, is a talented printmaker. She has similar happy childhood memories of gallery visits and ‘going to grandma’s studio where everything felt absolutely perfect, completely absorbing.’
Grandma’s studio refers of course to Sally Winter’s longtime creative base in the garden of her Bournemouth home. For many years Sally combined her printmaking business with a busy career as an arts journalist and broadcaster, but for more than a decade now she has concentrated solely on producing etchings, mono prints and collagraphy. It’s been a big success with people like Judi Dench among those buying her works. Sally is no stranger to the world of celebrity. As a radio broadcaster, she routinely interviewed actors, writers and musicians. ‘I’ve interviewed everyone from Stevie Wonder to Lauren Bacall, but look at me now. I work in a shed,’ she jokes.
Sally’s not the only member of the Winter family to have attracted famous patronage. Tom recently sold one of his oil paintings to Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood. He was delighted when Ronnie said he’d like to buy one of his works, but admits it was a rather daunting prospect given the quality of the art that hangs on the walls of the guitarist’s home. As an award-winning graduate of the Slade School of Art, with work in several private collections, there was a reason that his paintings caught Ronnie’s eye.
The work in question was not one of his Dorset studies but a large canvas of Paddington Station. Tom, who also lectures at Bournemouth Arts University, says that whether it’s a coastal study, portraiture, still life or an urban structure, he loves painting anything that creates light and shadows.
As we chat, we notice the afternoon light is beginning to fade so we head down to the beach for a group photograph. Almost as soon as we arrive a squall sets in. The views across the bay that sweep from Hengistbury to the Isle of Purbeck vanish as the skies darken, but the extended Winter family remains wreathed in smiles. ‘Whatever the weather, we love it here,’ beams Sally.
Family Lines: Seven artists, four generations, runs until June 26. lighthousepoole.co,uk
