CELIA LEWIS was born in 1948 and has lived all her life in Surrey. She has three daughters and seven grandchildren. She studied life and portrait charcoal drawing with Signorina Simi in Florence and latterly has been a regular member of an art group near her home. She is a member of several local Art Societies and has held various exhibitions as well as exhibiting with the RI, and the RWS, the SBS, The Society of Women Artists and Wildlife Artist of the Year in London.
Celia is a printmaker, specialising in linocutting, as well as an artist and has recently been combining the two to produce unique mixed media pieces. Having achieved her Diploma from the Chelsea School of Botanical Art she has branched out into botanical linocuts. Three of these could be seen at the Botanical Art Society's Mall Galleries Exhibition in June 2019.
She finds a lot of her subject matter in her own garden where she keeps chickens, turkeys and occasional Gloucester Old Spot pigs. Her publication The Illustrated Guide to Chickens features 100 different breeds with over 200 watercolours with a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. The second book in this series, The Illustrated Guide to Pigs with a foreword by HRH The Princess Royal was published in July 2011 and this was followed by The Illustrated Guides to Ducks & Geese and Cows. 2013 saw the publication of An Illustrated Country Year - nature uncovered month by month an amusing anthology of nature through the year, and 2015 the companion edition An Illustrated Coastal Year also published by Bloomsbury at the end of August 2015.
Celia's images can also be seen on Canns Down Press greetings cards and Piatnick Bridge Cards and Jigsaws and as well as Needlepoint kits for Heirloom Needlepoint Collection.
2023 Exhibitions
RI Mall Galleries
Moncrieff Bray, Petworth
Watts Contemporary Gallery - Upcycling
Previous exhibitions:
RI, Mall Galleries
Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries
Wildlife Artist of the Year, Mall Galleries
Royal Watercolour Society, Bankside Gallery
Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries
Society of Botanical Artist, Mall Galleries
Bankside Gallery, London
Watts Contemporary Gallery
Red Dog Gallery
Fountain Gallery, Hampton Court
Monxrieff Bray Gallery, Petworth
Among prizes she has won are:
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour RI Medal 2005
Raymond Krish Prize 2006
Joe Acheson Award for Watercolour & Gouache 2007
Royal Watercolour Society Winsor & Newton Prize 2010
Farnham Art Society Portrait Award 2011
Farnham Art Society Pullinger Award for best print 2013
Guildford Art Society 'Best in Show' 2013
Guildford Art Society Alliott Award 2018