Gill Watkiss, Artist, 1938-2024
Gill Watkiss has been a leading figure in the West Cornwall art scene for several decades.Born in Walthamstow, London, in 1938, at eighteen, she visited Cornwall with her husband, the artist Reg Watkiss.
Gill fell in love with the rugged beauty of the West Penwith coastline, mining villages, and harbour towns and relocated permanently from London to Cornwall.
They lived in St.Levan, Zennor and, in the late 1960s, moved to the small mining town of St.Just, the inspiration for much of her work and sole subject of her paintings for the following eight years.
Gill's unique imagery of Cornwall, the people, the places, and hauntingly beautiful coastline have become highly sought after and collected internationally.
Despite her increasing popularity and recognition, Gill was a very private person. She did not seek or enjoy publicity and lived only to paint and enjoy her family.
After moving from St Just to Penzance, her subject matter moved on, encapsulating the winding lanes, coastal paths and unique towns and villages across Cornwall.
Local parks and playgrounds were a popular theme, each painting telling a story of love, loss, life and everyday events.
A quote from a 2017 article in the Guardian, written by Paula Coccoza, provides a great tribute to her work.
Wind is a metaphor for change, the passage of time, the past and the future (the answer, my friend...”). It blows in the art of Van Gogh, through Hokusai to the far western tip of Cornwall and Gill Watkiss, whose landscapes are peopled by figures permanently bent, snapped over by the wind, hair whipped.
The writer Judith Cook wrote,
Lost as we now seem to be in a sterile desert of minimalism, Gill Watkiss' paintings sing out from the walls with energy in a marvellous affirmation of the strength of human spirit.
Gill enjoyed a close relationship with her brother, David Tomlin, a lithographer. They worked together for several years on lithographs of her work.
Gill's passion for painting was only equalled by love for her family, her six children, Dawn, Sharon, Louise, Rebecca, Rachael and Julian, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
This vibrant, unique and extraordinary woman leaves behind the legacy of her outstanding paintings.
The painful physical absence felt by family and friends will be filled with many beautiful memories.
Oil on Canvas After The Party 2024