Observed annually on November 13, since 1998, World Kindness Day promotes kindness throughout the world through gestures big and small. To celebrate this special day, Four Seasons properties across the globe will bring kindness to their hotels through the medium of art.
As part of the campaign, Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire is joining forces with the Winchester-based Minster Gallery. Ahead of the day on November 11, six carefully selected artists will visit the 500-acre (200-hectare) Hampshire estate to paint en plein air, where they will establish a live work station, creating pieces inspired by the theme of “Kindness” and Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire surrounding nature.
To further promote the message of kindness to the community, Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire will host a special pop up gallery of the artists other work on the estate. Guests will then have the chance to discover more behind the inspiration of the pieces, as well as the opportunity to purchase them, which in turn will again support the artists directly.
Artists taking part in the event include:
Taha Afshar
Born in Winchester, Taha Afshar studied Art and History of Art at Winchester College, graduated from University College London with a degree in Economics, followed by a PhD from the London School of Economics. From a young age, he has had a passion for painting and exhibited in local galleries, where he received many awards. His first solo exhibition was at The Minster Gallery in 2018 and was followed by an invitation to exhibit at the Biennale in Venice in 2019. Light with both its physical and metaphysical properties is often the subject matter of his work. Recent paintings have drawn inspiration from Hampshire, Nordic, and Lac Leman landscapes. Taha's work can be found in many private and public art collections in the UK and abroad.
Chrissie Birchall PVPSWA
Working from her studio in Lepe, Hampshire, Chrissie Birchall PVPSWA is a painter of still life and flowers. She was taught to paint by artist Robert King and takes inspiration from the great still life and flower painters of the 18th and 19th centuries, in particular Chardin and Fantin Latour. Her work reflects her innate feeling for timeless arrangements of fruit, flowers, china and glass, painted with a particular quality of light. She exhibits at The Minster Gallery and in London and France. She was made a member of the Society of Women Artists in 2003 and Vice President in 2005 until 2011. Her paintings are in many collections in the UK and abroad.
Josephine Chisholm
Winchester based artist Josephine Chisholm, with her vibrant works of art, takes us on a journey through Winchester, Hampshire and the rest of the world where she loves to travel. After graduating from the Bristol College of Art and Design as a graphic designer in 1974, Josephine later completed painting courses and today paints in various media (acrylic, gouache, watercolour, pen and wash, and pastels). She has the talent to portray the vibrancy, theatre and personality of urban life, the freedom of landscape and seascape, the pattern and humanity of allotments and beaches, the colour and magic of people and parties, the warmth of bars and restaurants. Her paintings are collected beyond the UK, in Australia, the US and Europe. She has had many solo exhibitions at The Minster Gallery in Winchester.
Roger Dellar ROI RI PS ARSMA
Self-taught professional figurative artist Roger Dellerworks in pastels, watercolours, mixed media, oils and acrylics. Roger’s key interest lies in observing people in their varied environments and recording them with a particular concentration on effects of light. His paintings present an intimate and colourful interpretation of everyday life, with an individual focus capturing gesture and interaction that sets Roger’s work apart. His paintings are a testament to Roger’s ability to paint a moment, even an instant, and successfully relay thought and sense to the viewer. Roger is represented by The Minster Gallery and regularly paints on the Isle of Wight and in Hampshire. He is a member of many prestigious art societies including the Royal Society of Watercolour Artists, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Wapping Group.
Caroline Hall
Caroline Hall worked as a reporter and presenter with the BBC in Southampton before moving to Berlin in 2000 with her family. She later graduated from Winchester School of Art with a first class honours degree in Visual Art in 2004 and completed a Masters in Painting in 2007. Named as an “Artist to Watch” by emerging arts specialists in 2009, she has been awarded major solo shows of her work in Southampton, St-Ives and at The Minster Gallery. Today, her work is in collections worldwide. Caroline is an artist who works intuitively, using gesture, mark and colour to express her love of the countryside. She is inspired by landscapes as diverse as Yosemite in California, St Ives and Helford in Cornwall and the Downs around Winchester.
Robert King RI RSMA
Hampshire based artist Robert King has painted all his life. He was born in Leicester in 1936 and attended Leicester Art College before spending his two years of army service in Egypt, returning to finish his art degree. For many years, he worked as a shoe designer but always continued to paint and exhibit. He has a wonderful ability to paint a wide variety of subjects using oils, watercolours, gouache and pastels portraying scenes from his much loved beaches and estuaries of the South Coast and the Isle of Wight. From his travels to southern Europe and India, he captured the heat, light and life around him with his superb sense of colour and spontaneous technique. His figurative paintings of interiors and nudes are also greatly admired. His work has been shown in some of the most prestigious galleries in London and abroad and at The Minster Gallery in Hampshire. In 1976, he became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and in 1985, was elected to the Royal Society of Marine Artists. In March 2012, Robert was awarded the prestigious Turner Watercolour Award for outstanding paintings.
