Robert Garnham is Suffolk born. Always feeling most at home in the county, he lives and works in Ipswich in his purpose built studio, open to visitors anytime by appointment.

For Robert, art is a way of grasping the unphysical world, to stand above or outside everyday things and give meaning beyond language. Subject matter will change as there is no choice or limitation on inspiration.

 

Approaching retirement from the career in graphic design, his first love of drawing and painting now takes focus.

Supported, recognised and encouraged as a child at school, Robert studied at the Ipswich Art School in High Street during which he was awarded a Distinction and Upper Pass for his design work. He held a successful solo exhibition at 142 Gallery in Felixstowe after winning an open competition earlier the previous year. Robert successfully sells work in Ipswich, Snape and here at the Earsham Art Gallery. His studio is regularly visited during weekends in June as part of the Suffolk Open Studios organisation.

 

A note about his signature. Being left-handed, he finds it awkward and inconsistent to write it cursively with a brush. He creatively found another solution. The name ‘Rob’, written in shorthand, is much easier to sign. All work however, is signed in the conventional manner on the reverse with a certificate of authentication.

 

A full archive of work can be found on his Instagram account and more restrictively within the Suffolk Open Studios website directory. Mediums used in his work are charcoal, graphite and he paints in oil. Subjects vary but the preferred medium for figure drawing is charcoal. Oil medium is more usually assigned to the outside natural world.

 

Client Quotes:

"I would just like to say a big thank you Robert for my lovely Norfolk Hare painting, such beautiful detail and colour. The painting takes pride and place on my lounge wall and receives lots of lovely compliments” - Maxine Parker

 

“Powerful, beautiful work!” - Carol Nind

 

“A wonderful body of work Rob. Well done” - Rosey Stewart

 

“Lovely stuff, especially the excellent charcoals” - Tristan

 

Robert has exhibited work in many galleries including: 

Ballroom Art Gallery in Aldeburgh, The Pond Gallery in Snape, 142 Gallery in Felixstowe, Frame Workshop in Ipswich.

 

He is also a member of the Suffolk Open Studio and regularly opens his studio up for visitors every year during June.

 

Details of more work can be found at his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/garneygarney,  directly from his email at Robert.garnham@ntlworld.com, also at www.suffolkopenstudios.org/artists/robert-garnham"