About

CV

My name is Gill Bustamante I am Sussex-based oil painter with a Fine Art degree and a long professional career painting the landscapes and wildlife I encounter on my rural walks in the South East. My paintings combine semi-abstract techniques with a strong connection to real places - capturing the essence of the landscapes, birds, wildlife, nature, light and movement I have seen after walking somewhere. I have sold over 1500 paintings online or in galleries over the course of my career and 1000’s of prints. My paintings are completely unique in style. I work mostly from memory as that tends to prevent me getting too 'traditional' in how I relay the landscapes and wildlife I see. The reason being that there are already many excellent landscape and wildlife artists capturing realistic landscapes and wildlife. I however, try to use a language which not only shows visual details but also some of the other perceptions such as the scents, sounds and spiritual energy also contained in the places I visit. This is especially interesting in the ancient landscapes of England as there is an implied magic in them that many people don’t get a chance to see if they live in cities. I perceive it and I like to share it. This process has led to a distinctive and unique style of painting which is forever evolving. My ultimate purpose with my painting, apart from simply the thrill of creating it, is to inspire others to want to better protect the wildlife, birds and landscapes they see. This desire to help nature rather than just abusing it is becoming stronger globally and I am happy if I am helping to promote this. I think of my paintings as little captured universes that can lead to other times and places. I have a strong urge to paint my way out of the mundane - which is why much of my artwork features pathways, portals, and little mysteries. One day I may disappear into one and you will know I have succeeded. Bio As a child, I taught myself to draw and paint by copying pictures from wildlife and horse books on an almost daily basis and the skills I acquired were added to throughout school and art college. However, my first real introduction to life as a working artist began on leaving art college when I discovered that the Brighton art galleries and the local job centre did not, at once, sign me up for a glittering career as an artist. In the job centre, when I informed my consultant that I had a Fine Art degree, the lady laughed sympathetically and then offered me a job as a chambermaid (which I took). In the art galleries I visited, I was told I needed to be an ‘emerging’ or ‘mid-career’ artist in order for them to be interested. I tried to convince them I had, in fact, ‘emerged’ at age 3 but my reasoning failed to impress and so like millions before me I discovered the well-known issue of needing to be ‘a name’ before I was ‘a name’. However, regardless of not winning the Turner prize or being Picasso, I continued to draw and to paint and regularly took part in or organized exhibitions where I sold work or was given commissions. In the 1990s I met an art agent who travelled the area selling animal portrait commissions and I became one of the artists he represented which was excellent experience as it demanded I learn some formal portrait painting techniques. Commissions continued as my main income source until around 2010 when I first began to sell art online. The success I had on this gave me the opportunity to spend more time developing new ideas and techniques and, for the first time in my career, I painted for my own pleasure, eventually developing a distinctive style of my own.