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Obituary
(Published in The Independent Thursday 3 August 2006. Reproduced by kind permission of the Independent www.independent.co.uk)
Catherine Brennand
Painter passionate about buildings
There are some artists who find inspiration and motivation for their work in a variety of sources and themes and
there are others for whom there need only be one. Catherine Brennand's passion was buildings. "Focusing on an
individual subject isn't necessarily a bad thing" she said.
"I cannot ever imagine ever becoming bored with painting buildings. There are so many architectural styles and every place
has its own flavour. Also as I am particularly interested in the use of light and shadows the buildings surface is constantly
changing. A good light can make the most mundane of buildings look exciting".
Brennand's work was characterised by its feeling for texture, colour (which was strong, often hot) and composition -
she saw how an interesting doorway or a balcony, out of context, could look almost abstract. But perhaps the most
noticeable quality of her work is its sense of atmosphere. In particular she was entranced by shop facades. She did
several series including a sequence of Jermyn Street shops in the West End of London. These pictures have a peculiar
magic as the reflections in the windows and the glowing lights inside reveal an Aladdin's cave of fine clothes, antique
furnishings, jewellery and choice foods.
She was born Catherine Bateman in Woking Surrey, in 1961. Her father, John Bateman, was a journalist with
Associated Newspapers and her mother a teacher. When she was still a child her family moved to east Kent and she
later attended Dover Grammar School for Girls. On leaving school she went to the Bishop Otter College in Chichester
to train as a teacher but after three years - and much to her parents' alarm - she decided that was the wrong choice
for her. She subsequently graduated with a degree in Art and Design from University College, Chichester.
She took a job as a technical graphic artist with Francic Concrete, a manufacturer of specialist blocks on Ford airfield
near Chichester. Bateman found working in the construction industry awakened in her an interest in architecture and
she began to paint buildings. Subsequently the firm was taken over and she moved with her job to Wolverhampton.
One night at a Hallowe'en Party whe met Mark Brennand, whom she would later marry. Encouraged by him she began
to paint regularly and from 1996 worked full time as an artist. She received many and varied commissions which
included work for Ivory Gate plc (the Bafta Building), Tarmac, Crown Estates, Staffordshire County Council, Wilton's
Restaurant and The New West End Synagogue in London, and the brewery Eldridge Pope & Co.
In 1997 she participated in a tour of Israel sponsored jointly by the Linda Blackstone Gallery and the Jewish National
Fund for an exhibition the following year celebrating the 50th anniversary of the state of Israel. The modern buildings
along the sea-front of Tel Aviv particularly caught her imagination. Although most of the buildings she painted in Israel
were actually white or pale grey, when she recreated them she found inspiration in the colours of the Negev Desert.
She was also drawn to the buildings of Italy, the South of France and the east coast of the United States. 'The texture
of different materials and surfaces was an important element in her work: the peeling plaster and deep shadows of
southern Europe or, in the New England states, the timber cladding and Georgian proportions. Frequently ideas came
from the upper storeys of buildings. "Street level is often very ordinary, so I tend to look up quite a lot".
By preference Brennand worked in watercolour which she enjoyed for its unpredictability and versatility: the medium
could stand on its own or be combined with all sorts of other media and techniques. Once back in her studio the
photographs she took and the sketches she made on site were turned into underlying drawings for her paintings which
might be constructed from up to 15 thin layers of superimposed washes of colour.
She said that, whereas the choice of colour was mostly a deliberate and carefully thought out process, the involvement
of textures was largely intuitive. A shelf in front of her working table held all sorts of things used in her work: spray
diffusers, a toothbrush, rollers, screwed-up tissue paper, wax crayons and candles (which she used like a batik artist)
very fine Japanese papers for gluing onto paper. Among the artists who influenced her work were John Piper, Graham
Sutherland, Patrick Heron and Mark Rothko.
In 1991 Brennand was awarded the Winsor and Newton Young Painters in Watercolour Award at the Royal Institute of
Painters in Watercolours (the RI). The following year she received the Frank Herring Award for the best painting of an
architectural subject, after which she became a full member of the Institute and in 2001 a member of its council. Her
other awards included, in 2005, The Matt Bruce Memorial Prize "for the most outstanding use of light and colour in
watercolours".
A prolific artist, she exhibited widely: at the Llewellyn Alexander and Linda Blackstone Galleries in London, the Barnt
Green Gallery in Worcester and the Shell House Gallery in Herefordshire; aswell as at the Royal West Of England
Academy in Bristol and elsewhere.
Catherine Brennand was an enthusiast for life in all manner of ways. She read avidly, loved letter writing, cooking,
Radio 4, fell walking in the Lake District, music, London, architecture, the cinema, buying clothes, good food and
conversation.
In March last year she visited Malta, where she took about 750 photographs. Despite receiving chemotherapy for
breast cancer, she spent the summer preparing 40 works for her first one woman show, which took place in Malta
earlier this year. She had remained as much an optimist in her illness as she had in her work. "Painting," she said,
should be good fun".
Simon Fenwick
Catherine Louise Batemen; artist: born Woking Surrey 11 October 1961; married 1988 Mark Brennand (two sons);
died Wolverhampton 1 May 2006.
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