about
Tessa Pearson RCA ARWS studied Printed Textile design at UCA Farnham and the Royal College of Art, where she won the Courtaulds Prize and was commissioned by Liberty of London to produce a collection of printed silks. As Tessa Lambert she opened her own print studio and gallery in London and successfully sold her distinctive handpainted silks around the world.
In recent years Tessa’s professional practise has centred on her continuing passion for pattern and colour. Her influences have been many, from Matisse to Hodgkin and the bold colourists of mid twenty-first century painters Patrick Heron and Albert Irvin.
Tessa sees gardens as living paintings and they have been the inspiration she has returned to many times. Creating her own garden has been an influential process informing her current work. As the garden emerges each year she repeatedly immerses herself in the planting, responding to the colour, rhythms and characteristics that excite. The time spent drawing and painting these moments build a rich recollection of images to create larger scale paintings and monoprints. Working with unpredictable water media and experimental printmaking processes, mixing direct spontaneous mark making and considered digital imagery ensures the liveliness and energy captured from direct observation.
Tessa loves to share her enthusiasm for colour and painting in situ, working with artist and illustrator Lara Harwood for Creative Adventures in Morocco, taking people exploring with their sketchbooks in this culturally rich and colourful country. Details of this and other teaching workshops are on the WHERE page.
Tessa currently runs the artist-led gallery i-Contemporary and is chairman of the Fountain Gallery, an artist co-operative in Hampton Court, Surrey. She exhibits widely at art fairs and galleries in the UK and internationally and has had work selected for prestigious exhibitions including the Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Open and the Royal West of England Academy Print Open. Tessa has recently been elected an Associate Member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
Recent exhibitions
2024 - Winter exhibition New Ashgate Gallery
AAF Battersea with Barnes Collective gallery
Solo show- Bouquets and Borders, Zillah Bell Gallery , Thirsk,Yorkshire
Spring exhibition Gallery Nine Bath
RWS Spring /Summer exhibition Bankside Gallery
RWS Small Picture Show Bankside Gallery
AAF Hampstead with Hayloft Gallery
‘Blooms!’ Solo show Fountain Gallery Hampton Court
2023- Winter exhibition New Ashgate Gallery Farnham
Solo show ‘Prairie Dreams’ Ballroom Arts Aldeburgh
RWS Summer exhibition Bankside Gallery
Printfest Ulverston , Zillah Bell Award prize
Spring exhibition Byard Art Gallery Cambridge
Solo show ‘The Artists Garden’ Watermark Gallery Sept 2022
Monoprint- two-man show New Ashgate Gallery April 2019
Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour Open
Bankside Gallery, London March 2022 / 2016 / 2015 (Prizewinner)
Solo show Great Fosters Egham Jan - April 2016
Florum Sept 2015/16 invited artist
New Ashgate Gallery Farnham Winter shows 2015-23
Sarah Wiseman Gallery Oxford Spring /Autumn shows 2015
Solo show Galerie Furwahr Walldurn Germany 2014
Solo show Oil and Water Gallery London SW1 2014
Solo show New Ashgate Gallery Farnham Surrey 2014
AAF Hong Kong with Turner Barnes Gallery 2014
AAF Singapore with Turner Barnes Gallery 2015/18
AAF Battersea with Turner Barnes Gallery 2014/15/16
AAF Hampstead /Battersea with i- Contemporary 2010-22
Brighton Art Fair 2011-16 & West Dean Art Festival 2016/17
Printfest Cumbria 2010-15/23
Solo Shows Fountain Gallery Hampton Court 2008-24
Royal West of England Academy Open Print show 2009
Voted Surrey Artist of the Year 2012-13
You can follow Tessa’s latest work on Instagram below