Hi I am Judith MacKay and this is my web site. I thought you might like to know a little of my history/background to give you an idea of who I am and how I got to where I am today. I was born in Hertfordshire, in 1943. My family moved to the West Country in 1948 and I grew up on various farms before moving back to Hertfordshire and then onto Buckinghamshire.
I went to the Art School in Banbury, Oxfordshire where I did my GCEs and A levels and City Guilds dressmaking exams before starting work in London in late 1960in one of London’s leading Fashion Houses. In 1969 I moved to Italy and attended the British Institute of Florence to learn Italian and to do a History of art course covering the Byzantine period through to the modern day. Of course living in Florence was wonderful as I was surrounded by the work of artists such as Michaelangelo, Raphaelo, Botticelli to name but a few. It was a magical time for me as I visited the art galleries and museums as well as the cities of Rome and Venice where I learnt so much about art. This has stood me in good stead today with my knowledge constantly being increased with the aid of courses and workshops that I have attended in recent times and my skills refined and honed to bring that edge to paintings that I hope you like.
In 1999 I gained my diploma to teach IT, a strategy that can be applied to any subject you thoroughly understand and are fully conversant with.
I have had a full and varied career that took me to London, Edinburgh, and Florence returning to the UK in 1970 where I worked as a PA for such prestigious companies as The Rover Car Company as it was then, Export Director at Gordon’s Gin, Press Officer at Kaysor Bondor (lingerie), Sedgewick Forbes (Insurance Brokers) and to the Vice Consul at the British Consulate in Florence, Italy. More recently I worked for Waterhouse & Ripley Adie Button & Partners Architects and then a couple of local schools before taking a permanent post with Hertfordshire County Council’s Environment Department in 1995 for whom I taught members of staff how to use ArcView, a geographical mapping software programme. I was also responsible for Data Protection issues and requests from the general public using the Freedom of Information Act. I retired in September 2008.
Herts County Council gave me the opportunity to become a qualified IT trainer I also taught at North Herts College as well as teaching HCC staff how to use various bespoke and specialist software packages, such as ArcView GIS (Geographical Information Systems) I also wrote the manuals and exercises we used on the courses. The training could be presentation and demonstration or hands on for both group and one to one. Both can be quite demanding depending on the ability of the audience, but extremely rewarding watching students grow as they begin to understand and develop their skills. I also learnt and became fully conversant with the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts as I worked in an advisory capacity for the Environment Department running workshops and seminars to help Members, Officers and staff to understand the Council’s role and was also dealing with the numerous requests from the general public that the Council received on a daily basis.
I set up and ran my own business JINJA BEAN designing, making and selling children’s clothes from age 6 months to 8 years. Wherever possible I adapted patterns and bought fabrics from wholesalers. At that time I only had a small Elna sewing machine but it was the best machine I ever owned. It was great fun but exhausting when the orders came in.
I was a primary school governor for 11 years at an Infant school in Ware and then did 4 years at Benington JMI school. In between I acted as Secretary to the Governing Body of St Mary’s JM School in Ware. All of which I enjoyed.
For 6 years I was Editor of our Parish Magazine (St Peters Parish Magazine Benington). When I took it over they were using MS Word and cutting and pasting articles and photographs onto sheets of paper, I introduced MS Publisher to streamline production of our A5 40 – 44 page monthly magazine. This was invaluable experience and I thoroughly enjoyed producing a magazine to a high professional standard, but at the same time a good read.
I am also a keen flower arranger and have been arranging flowers for over twenty years and more recently assisting with organizing our Church’s annual Flower Festival. This was one of the three arrangements I did for this year’s Annual Flower Festival the theme being “The Heavens” and represented the Star of Bethlehem.
My Great Grandmother was a watercolorist and I have a number of her beautiful paintings hanging in my hall and sittingroom. One of Capri and another is of Venice when she visited these places whilst on her honeymoon in the mid 1800s. Both my parents were very artistic and painted when they were young, then taking it up again when they retired. I have always loved painting and have painted with watercolours and pastels doing pictures for my children of their pets and of course helping with their art projects when they were at Primary School. It was about that time I went along to an art class at our local College and learnt various techniques including pointillism. We were encouraged to develop a scrapbook of ideas for future paintings and I still have this book which I delve into from time to time.
In the late 80′s I ventured into Silk Painting. At first I used only the iron fix paints but really enjoyed what I created until I joined The Guild of Silk Painters and discovered that there was a great deal more to silk painting than I had ever imagined. I joined two groups, one in St Albans and one in Cambridge both very different but with the same enthusiasm for the art. I then discovered steam fix dyes which opened a whole new dimension to painting on silk. Through various workshops I discovered how to use the various types of resist, painting wet in wet, with a dry brush, using salt and wax to create different effects and of course exhibiting and selling my work. I still belong to The Guild of Silk Painters but silk painting has taken a back seat for the time being.
Through an advertisement in my local Parish Magazine, which at the time I was currently Editor of, I joined in September 2006 a small group of painters run by the well know sculptress Anne Leonard – Ardeley Art Group – where I discovered once more that I really could draw and paint to exhibition standard. I love drawing and painting animals quite often from photographs I took whilst on holiday in South Africa –elephants are my favourites. Each painting brings back wonderful memories of my holidays in South Africa and I can almost feel and smell the presence of the bush and the elephants, giraffe, baboons, dwarf mongoose or buffalo to name but a few of the animals I photographed and watched on a daily basis and which I hope I have captured in my work. It was a very exciting time for me and I long to visit other parts of Africa and try and capture the essence of being on Safari in my work. I subscribe to www.earthtouch.com a wonderful site that has short videos of the wildlife not just in Africa but around the world. It is brilliant for capturing the movement of animals and thereby giving me the opportunity to watch and listen and record this in my drawings. A site worth visiting.
When I lived in Florence at the end of the sixties I gained invaluable knowledge through a course on the History of Art from Byzantine period to present day (that was 1969). It was wonderful to visit the museums and art galleries and gaze at works by Michelangelo and Raphael and of course numerous others. I have always taken advantage of visiting Art Galleries and exhibitions wherever I am as it is interesting to see the style and techniques used by others. To this end I am constantly pursuing my love of painting, as I strongly believe that you never stop learning. I am currently attending a colour workshop as well as working with a well known artist Lupe Cunha, painting contemporary landscapes. Lupe has taken me to a new and exciting dimension. I have discovered I like painting landscapes in the Impressionist style and of course Monet moved towards abstract art in later life.
Since joining the Ardeley Art Group, doing workshops at Art Van Go and working with Lupe Cunha I have increased my knowledge of using various mediums and media and enjoy drawing with both charcoal and graphite pencils and painting with inks, watercolour, acrylics and using pastels; all have their own unique characteristics. Following my retirement I joined the Benington Art Group who meet in the Village every Monday from 10 am to 2pm. It is a wonderful group of very talented artists and we have the added benefit of expert advice and tuition from James Willis every other week. I am also a member of Hertfordshire Visual Arts Forums (HVAF), The Society For All Artists (SAA) and Marwell International Wildlife Art Society, Hertford Art Society .
I have entered many National competitions and exhibited at a number of local Art Exhibitions as well as submitted my work to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2009, 2010 and 2011 as well as BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2011 category Endangered Species.
