Jayne Gaze studied Art & Design at Worcester University graduating with first class single honours followed by a twelve month residency at Worcester Cathedral for which she won an Arts Council England Award. In the following year she was AA2A Artist in Residence at Worcester University. Until 2014 Jayne was Resident Artist for Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust at Shrub Hill Workshop. Here she used art therapeutically and vocationally, with recovering mental health service users, and was founder of AIMs, Art in Minds Foundation (https://m.facebook.com/artinminds/). For 14 years she coordinated exhibitions in Worcestershire and beyond, to celebrate World Mental Health Day, showcasing the artwork of over 250 mental health service users.
During this time she continued to develop her own practice, with annual exhibitions of her work.
“Through my art I aim to explore and evoke emotion. I often utilise the lexicon of cloth, in particular bandage and muslin, suggesting binding, protection, injury and healing”
Her observations of the fragility of the human condition and memories of the worn and peeling layers of paint and wallpaper in the rambling farmhouse she was born and grew up in also inform and inspire her work.
In contrast her watercolours reflect flora and fauna that surrounded her growing up in the beautiful Shropshire countryside.
“My fascination with nature began as a child growing up in the countryside. Our kitchen table was often brightened by a jar of flowers from the garden or hedgerows. I like to paint them from memory trying to capture how their beauty made me feel and when it works I get to make someone’s day more colourful “
In November 2012 Jayne was guest Artist in Residence in the new ‘Artists Space’ situated in the old library in Worcester Museum and Art Gallery where she concentrated on work influenced by a period of sailing in the Greek Ionions and the Western Isles of Scotland.
In 2013 Jayne began creating from her studio in Catral, Spain and continued to sell work internationally. She has now returned to Worcester and has a studio/gallery space at The Artery Studios www.thearterystudios.co.uk where she is working on a new body of work for a solo exhibition in 2024.