Rebecca O'Dwyer
Rebecca O’Dwyer is a country and sporting artist from the Vale of Glamorgan. She is inspired by the animals and people of rural Wales – the community she was born into and is still a part of.
Her intention is to capture the individual beauty and spirit of the characters that feature in her work.
She feels that she documents the daily lives of her subjects and is drawn in by the humorous, the playful, and the touching moments…the charm and depth in the ordinary.
She exhibits locally and nationally and is an Associate Member of the Society of Equestrian Artists.
Art with Heart
At a young age, Rebecca started creating portraits of her family’s dogs, horses, cattle or drawing her Dad sleeping in the chair. One of her most unusual portraits was of her house goldfish during her time at Seale Hayne Agricultural College, where she obtained an honours degree in Rural Estate Management.
During her twenties, she qualified as an Animal Spinal Therapist, specialising in horses. Her clients came predominantly from across the equestrian disciplines, but included dogs of many breeds, and occasionally a cat or prize bull. This gives her a deep understanding of anatomy and motion which, along with a love of animals and her eye for their individual character and traits, informs her work.
In 2003, Rebecca started offering clients pencil and pastel portraits of their animals, and was soon well-subscribed with commissioned work and began working full-time as a professional artist, her spinal therapy work taking a back seat. In 2007, she exhibited in a joint exhibition at The Bay Tree Gallery in Bradford-upon-Avon and her work was accepted by the Society of Equestrian Artists for the Annual show at Mall Galleries in London.
For the following nine years, Rebecca put her energy into starting an organic farming business with her husband, John, which won many food and farming awards. In 2016, she received the Denford Stud Bursary from the SEA to attend Porlock residential workshop, where she began painting in oils, coinciding with a return to the easel on a full-time basis.
Committed to developing her practice, Rebecca attends workshops with the SEA, studies with The London Atelier of Representational Art where she works from life in charcoal or oils, and frequently paints en plein air.
A former member of the South Wales Art Society, she attended demonstrations, critiques, and was awarded the prize for best figurative work in their 2017 annual exhibition. Rebecca now demonstrates and runs workshops for art societies in her region.
Rebecca exhibits regularly in country and sporting art galleries in Wales and the West Country and she is represented by the Albany Gallery in Cardiff – Wales’ premiere gallery. Her work has been accepted for The Horse in Art, the annual exhibition of the Society of Equestrian Artists, every year since 2016, and she recently served for a year as a Trustee of the SEA.
