Artist Isobel George's Biography

English born Isobel George has been living in America for the past thirty years where she raised her two sons and established a business in graphic art and illustration, designing magazines and promotional material for various companies in the Washington, D.C. area. During her years on the east coast she also illustrated books and short stories for local publishers. Upon moving to California in 1992 she began to paint, experimenting with various media which included oil, acrylic and gouache but always returning to her main love, watercolour, with which she feels a natural affinity and which allows her the freedom to adequately express the themes inherent in her work: emotion, movement, beauty.

California has proved to be a welcoming venue for Isobel's paintings, which are unusual in style and implementation. She has developed a technique of working with water and pigment and paper which allows for a flow and spontaneity essential to the feelings she wishes to project.

"Part of the fulfillment I experience from my work, is knowing that others may recognize and relate to what I try to express. When that happens, it's very rewarding."

Drawing subjects from her imagination, Isobel begins a painting with a minimal sketch on heavy, rough watercolour paper. She then soaks the entire sheet and, working wet-on-wet, applies the initial background colours, using a one-inch flat brush loaded with pigment. She adopts the paper as her palette, letting the colours blend and flow into each other as she works. The next step is to glaze one colour on top of another in chosen areas and, when the watercolor is dry, she applies black gouache on certain parts to help shape the image. Towards the completion of a painting, a soft touch of pastel and a little gold leaf may be added, providing an interesting textural interplay.

"I enjoy a direct connection with my chosen medium. Watercolour can be both powerful and delicate, opaque and translucent, promoting the expression of dark and light within one tableau."

Isobel's paintings are showcased, both publicly and privately, in the United States, England, France and Chile and new works are currently available for viewing at her studio or on her web site.

To contact the artist, please telephone 831-685-8362 or send an email to or visit her online gallery at www.gallerygeorge.com .