Olympics-inspired exhibit for Thames Ditton artist (From Your Local Guardian)

Olympics-inspired exhibit for Thames Ditton artist

8:30am Tuesday 26th June 2012 in Elmbridge By Hana Hausmeister, Reporter

Award-winning local artist Tiffany Budd will celebrate Our Great Britain with an Olympics-inspired exhibition.

Returning to the Thames Ditton library gallery, Ms Budd will present works based around British sport, landscapes and attractions, in tribute to the Diamond Jubilee and the upcoming Olympic games.

Ms Budd said: “There will probably be about 20 paintings [in the gallery], but it is always open if I think of something else.”

Having been a professional artist for seven years, Ms Budd specialises in painting, and coloured pencil and pastel drawings. She won the Bacchus Award painting competition in January 2006 and has been commissioned by high street giants such as Marks and Spencer and Wetherspoons. Her paintings have sold worldwide, and her drawing of St Paul’s Cathedral became the face of the new Derwent Chalk Pastel Tin.

Ms Budd says: “I first knew I wanted to be an artist probably at primary school. I’ve always loved to draw, and my secondary school, Tolworth Girls’, pushed me to that.

“I always carry a camera and a sketchpad; I even keep a sketchpad by my bed. It has happened in the past that I’d get a really good idea and have to get it down.”

Ms Budd has donated artworks to many charities, including the National Association of Crohns and Colitis, being a Crohns sufferer herself.

She says: “I like to give a bit back, not just to sell work; I’d like people to see that I’m approachable.”

The Our Great Britain exhibition will run from July 17 until August 11, at the Thames Ditton Library Gallery, and the paintings will range from £35 to £450.