'Into the Light' solo exhibition at Waterton Gallery in Fulham, London 2021

'The Waterton Gallery in Fulham has teamed up with artist Charlotte Sutton to display her latest collection of artworks created over the past year during the lockdown period. The solo exhibition, titled ‘Into The Light’ will show a diverse range of watercolour and oil paintings capturing the unique and distinctive characters of wildlife in intricate photorealistic detail.

Charlotte’s time consuming paintings demand her full attention and patience where she fully immerses herself in the process of capturing minute detail in her subject. Her hope is that her work allows the viewer to pause for a moment and become absorbed in the stunning complexities of the world we live in and to see the beauty that she feels on a daily basis. Igniting her curiosity for layers and textures, Charlotte challenges herself with studies of different animals to push her technical painting process. ‘Into the Light’ is and exhibition honouring the re-emergence into Charlotte’s painting practice and a guide for us all to seek beauty through the darkness.'

During Covid I had the unique opportunity to spend Lockdown creating a collection of paintings for my first ever solo exhibition. The gallery manager came across my work and invited me to put on an exhibition, which of course I was delighted to accept. I spent the majority of lockdown, locked-down to my studio, spending early mornings and late nights perfecting my works. 

Excited with the opportunity, I started creating the collection with a bang and produced Tiger, an absolutely massive oil painting of a Sumatran Tigers head on paper. The logistics of this painting were a nightmare and I learned a lot of lessons quickly in the art of creating paintings that are bigger than yourself. I videoed every second of myself creating this painting and it was my proudest achievement thus far upon completion. During the exhibition, this painting was sold through a social media advert to a mystery buyer! 

Another big ticket painting was Snow Leopard, inspired by a photograph I saw by photographer Jim Cummings. I was in awe of the beautiful image and knew I had to create a painting of my own. This painting was sold privately shortly after the exhibition ended. 

Finally, and probably most notably was my painting titled The Grandfather. This work was created as a tribute to my dear grandfather who sadly passed away in 2019. I wanted to create a tribute to him and have a project I could work on to process my grief, and from that place The Grandfather was born. I knew I needed to find imagery that reflected a strong, patriarchal male animal but one that also had soft eyes and a kind heart. As if sent by the universe I came across the reference image I used by Noah Rothstein. This painting was born of such pain and sadness but as I progressed through the work each day, my grief eased. To this day, I have never put so much of myself into a painting and it still stands as my rawest painting. 

Other notable paintings were my bird trilogy: Hummingbird, Lilac Breasted-Roller and Evening Kingfisher. 

Overall the exhibition was a huge success and a wonderful way to launch my art career. I sold 80% of the works during the show and have since sold all but two who remain in my home on my own walls as a reminder of the journey.