Rebecca Bennett

I am an artist living in the vibrant village of Kibworth Beauchamp. My passion is the great outdoors, and my challenge when I sit in front of my canvas is to capture the landscape and nature - its patterns, tones and shapes to depict its grandeur and beauty. 

Growing up, I was lucky enough to spend time in the picturesque villages of Walton and Debdale Wharf, along with a few years living in a Lock House at Wistow. My days were filled with adventures—walking dogs, riding horses, fishing, cycling, running, and making dens in the hedgerows with my younger brother. These moments, so deeply connected to nature and the changing seasons, continue to inspire my artwork today.

After completing the Open College of the Arts (OCA) Foundation Course in Drawing in 2024, I initially set out to pursue a Degree in Painting. However, after the first assignment, I felt a strong pull back to the tactile and expressive mediums of charcoal and pastel. There is something incredibly satisfying about building up pigment, then removing layers to reveal highlights, depth, and texture—it feels almost sculptural, as though I’m carving an image rather than simply drawing it.

I love working with negative space—the gaps between branches, the deep shadows in hedgerows, or the intricate patterns within grasses. These details fascinate me, and exploring them further is something I’m excited to develop in my work

Walking daily with my dog Mabel and being surrounded by the local countryside provides my inspiration. My palette and canvas choice are inspired by the colours, tones, shapes and patterns of the trees, shadows, highlights and hedgerows.

As I walk, I will note the subtle changes in the trees, hedgerows and the grasses, or the light casting shadows and shapes in the negative spaces and my challenge will be, ‘how do I depict this tiny detail onto the page?’ And secondly, ‘how do I make the composition exciting, and how do I draw the viewer into the scene as I have been?’

I get hugely excited when a new colour emerges – like the pinky red tones of a silver birch trees new growth in early spring, or the mauve and purple tones of the cow parsley stems in May, and the fluorescent yellow/green of the new leaves in the sunlight in April.

Whenever I start my piece of art I always set out with one clear mission in my head – which is to ‘mark make’ with whatever medium – mainly charcoal and pastel, in whatever technique and with whatever implement (rubber, brush, sandpaper, Stanley knife etc) to depict my own interpretation of what I am seeing, on to the canvas.

This feeling of freedom to ‘create marks’ takes all the pressure away from trying to create perfection, allowing me the space to express myself and create an image that is personal and composed of the beauty I see. The art becomes about the ‘marks’ not the subject.

I am on a hugely exciting journey – staying focused on letting the seasons and the subject guide me and my practice of mark making. I cannot say what my artwork may look like in a year or five years’ time – but my inspiration will stay the same from year on year, and that gives me the confidence to stay on this path and keep creating the images that mean so much to me.