As I look back on my time at Cambridge, and with the beauty of hindsight, I see quite clearly the beginnings of the path I have travelled since; the principles of creativity and collaboration, the spirit of curiosity and the importance of rigour have been my guiding lights. It is therefore no surprise that I now find myself at the heart of yet another dedicated, hard-working and inquisitive community.

The unanticipated move

Sebastian Manhart wrote in his alumni story about the rewards of an unanticipated career move; his candid remarks resonated with me. I left university with no plan but a clear sense of what I enjoyed and thought important. This has led me to work in arts organisations in the UK and abroad. My remit has been national as with Arts Council England; international as at The Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington DC and regional as with the Centro Colombo Americano de Pereira, Colombia. It has been interdisciplinary and specific. However, none has been so rewarding as my time at London Fine Art Studios.

As it turns out, I am not the only Cambridge graduate drawn to the world of London Fine Art Studios. Ann Witheridge, founder of the school, is an alumna of Christ’s College (along with at least two other students), where she studied History of Art before moving to Florence to train as a fine artist.

There are many more who take time out of their schedules to study the craft of drawing and painting with us. Be they linguists, lawyers, historians, writers or any other profession, they find in us a familiar and invigorating fusion of old and new, a place in which tradition emboldens and empowers modernity.

Learning as process, not product

London Fine Art Studios was established to teach the craft of drawing and painting. As behoves any art atelier, teachers and students work alongside each other, in this way ensuring that fundamental skills are passed from one generation to the next. It demonstrates that learning comes from many different sources – a pupil learns from their peers as well as their teachers and the teachers are, in turn, enriched by their students; above all it speaks to the fact that learning is a process, not a product; infinite, not finite. 

This exchange among equals of technique, experience and knowledge is another reminder of my Cambridge days, as is the diversity of our student body. There is no average age or background; no common road travelled, only like-minded individuals with the singular determination to better themselves as artists. For this they receive tuition in working from the cast, on the figure or portrait (the latter always from life models). They can choose to focus on landscape; apply their skills to sculpture or printmaking and attend workshops with artists from abroad.