Mary Jackson (b. 1936)

               Mary Jackson is an oil and watercolour painter of considerable technical ability who manages to capture the aesthetic quality of the moment through a natural sensitivity to tone and light effects. She studied Print Making at Southampton and Winchester College of Art (1978-83) and this formal education laid the foundation for her later work. Through the course of her career she has become well-known for her expressive figurative, landscape, and still life paintings. She was married to fellow artist Tom Coates and the couple were closely associated with Peter Kuhfeld and Richard Pikesley, as a group of artists that started exhibiting with the New English Art Club (NEAC) together in the 1970s and shared plein-air led approaches to their art. She was elected a member of both the New English Art Club (NEAC, 1987) and the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS, 1995).

Jackson's creative process is deeply rooted in observation and direct engagement with her subjects. She frequently works outdoors, capturing the nuances of light and atmosphere before refining her compositions in the studio. Her sketchbook is an essential tool, allowing her to record fleeting impressions and translate them into finished pieces. Her style is fluid and assured, impressionistic in passages but maintaining a strong figurative basis.

Her ability to combine accuracy with atmospheric feeling has recommended her for several prestigious commissions and awards. Notably, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Garsington Opera, and the English National Opera (ENO). She also served as an artist aboard the yacht Tilting at Windmills, documenting five sailing tours across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Her work has featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at Waterman Fine Art, Jermyn Street, Russell Gallery, Putney, Crossgate Gallery, Lexington, USA, Mall Galleries, London and The Royal Academy, She won the 2001 Patterson Gallery Prize for British landscape painters, the 1992 Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) Open Exhibition Prize, and the 1990 New English Critics’ Prize.

Residing in Dorset, Jackson continues to be an active participant in the British art scene, contributing to the legacy of contemporary figurative painting.