Fiona Cotton is a contemporary realist painter working across multiple genres with a particular interest in portraiture and still life.  She has a degree in the History of Fine Art and has studied traditional painting techniques in the intensive programs at the Florence Academy of Art and the Charles H Cecil Studios in Florence. She has won awards and been a finalist in many prizes both nationally and internationally, winning an honourable mention award in 2023 in the International Almenara Art Prize in Spain.   In 2024, her work was selected for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London as well as for in the 17th International ARC Salon in the USA and the Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award, Australia.  Her work is in private collections in UK, Europe and Australia and is featured in Still Life by Amber Creswell Bell (2021).  Her main gallery is AK Bellinger Gallery 

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In my still life work, using traditional techniques and painting from life, I like to create images of things I love either because they invoke memories of people or places I hold dear or because of their intrinsic beauty which cries out to be painted.  In uncertain times globally, my intention is to create a quiet space where meditative thoughts and memories can flourish through contemplation of an image rich with colour and light.   I like to paint portraits to show not just a likeness of each person but also to illustrate something of their personality and their back story.   So many of us carry such interesting stories within us which I try to capture in each portrait. 

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