Mari French
Biography
Born in Manchester in 1957, Mari French studied Art and Design at Stockport College as a mature student before pursuing a 20-year career in graphic design. In 1995 she moved to the Isle of Skye, where she lived for 15 years, developing and exhibiting her increasingly abstract landscapes. She now lives and works full-time in Norfolk, from a studio on a former 1930s RAF airbase.
French has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions, with work held in private collections worldwide. Her work has been selected annually for the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours at the Mall Galleries, London, since 2016. She was a finalist in the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition in 2014 and Artists & Illustrators Artist of the Year in 2016.
Artist Statement
Mari French is an abstract mixed-media painter with a particular interest in the liminal landscapes of coastline, salt marsh and moorland, alongside a passion for abstract florals. Her work reflects an experience of landscape through confident layering and erosion of media, energetic mark-making and a rich surface history, with an emphasis on space and light. A limited palette brings harmony and coherence, creating work that stands alone while remaining rooted in its subject.
French sketches on location to fix impressions of a place in her mind, but does not refer to sketches or photographs in the studio. Instead, she relies on memory and intuition, allowing accidental effects and unexpected imagery to emerge. Her design background informs her approach through strong composition, considered colour combinations and occasional typography.
The physical act of painting is central to her practice. Working quickly in the early stages, she moves around the easel, responding instinctively to paint, ink, gesture and surface. The process is energetic, spontaneous and liberating, allowing the landscape to emerge through the accumulation and removal of marks.