Isabel Adonis

I was born in Kilburn in north London to a Welsh mother and West Indian father.  I moved to the Sudan at age six and back to Wales at age nine.  I grew up in Llandudno. In my twenties I trained as a teacher but I did not pursue it as a career though I have been working part time as a private tutor for some time. I live with my partner, Bob and have four grown up children. I am also a writer concerning myself with race and identity.  I won an award for my essay, A black/white identity.

I made my first quilt when I was still at secondary school and then made small cloth pictures and cloth dolls. In 2008 I found a canvas in the road by a dustbin which I took to be a 'sign' that I should start painting.

Since then I've been successful in selling a lot of paintings. It came as a surprise to me that people really liked my paintings, as my drawing skills were very limited. Many people find them inspirational. From the start I was influenced by American folk art, hence the quilts.

My identification was with my Welsh mother who was always sewing and making do with scraps of cloth even while my father was quite a distinguished artist. I am inspired by all the things around me and especially the notion of home, both actually and spiritually.  There are also themes of alienation and my ethnic origins present in my work.

In nearly all my art you will see black crows.  My first ever painting was a girl with a black crow and of course an image of the patchwork skirt. The theme of the crow refers to the Welsh crow god, the slaves on slave ships were called crows, and also the 'Jim Crow' policy in America.  It also represents my dark inner life.

I paint in acrylic paint and am a mixed media artist. I like to include paper collage and paper dolls.

I was due to have an exhibition this summer at The Weavers Factory, Uppermill but because of Covid 19 and illness this has been postponed. My exhibition, entitled Scraps, Patches and Rags will now take place in Barmouth in 2023.