THE ITALIAN ART OF HORNCHURCH’S ROSA SEPPLE

Out of the Blue

One of the great things about having very clever people as friends is that when they hit the jackpot, it is wonderful to share in their good fortune.

Rosa Sepple, self taught artist, mother of two sons and wife to my great friend and press photographer colleague, Ted, has taken over a prestigious art galleries in London’s Pall Mall for a massive exhibition of her paintings.

Artist, Rosa Sepple

Titled Out of the Blue, Rosa has more than 122 paintings in a solo exhibition as well as launching her first book of paintings at the Mall Galleries, which is open daily from 10am to 5pm until this Saturday, August 29.

Sharing in her pleasure at a special launch on Monday night, the glow on her face mirrored the magnificent achievement that her rich and varied life has produced.

I remember some years ago when out on an assignment with Ted, he casually mentioned that Rosa had started painting.

All Dressed In Green

Always interested in painters I popped along to their Hornchurch home, and as the saying goes, ‘stands back in amazement’!

Before me was a remarkable unique watercolour painting that had its own style and texture, with Rosa twiddling her thumbs asking ‘what do you think’.

The question encapsulated her natural modesty found with all great talented people.

Though self taught, her skill came from her lineage, and time spent in her childhood with Italian grandparents in Treviso, northern Italy, in the studio of her grandfather, artist Salvatore Casagrande.

Paintings from Rosa’s website showing the Italian influence

Venetian art has always been my interest, my particular favourites being Titian, Canaletto, and particularly Bellini, but it has always been the adventurous way they all seemed to relish experimentation.

Styles are vastly different, and Rosa’s work slipped easily into the ancestral mode.

When she started painting in earnest, her individual style started to emerge as one that had taken a different path from the conventional.

The great beauty of her paintings is that each one has an individualism about it, being created as a stand alone piece and able to become the set attraction on any wall.

Simply put it is individualism that comes with talent and deep devotion to each stroke of the brush, and it is this quality that has attracted the art world.

Her paintings are much sought after, some bearing cricket score price tags alongside the more modestly priced, and collectors looking at the work not only as an investment, but something that will bring hours of pleasure.

The exhibition of 120 plus pieces is at the Mall Galleries in The Mall, London SW1 and close to Trafalgar Square. Entry is free.