Ian Ridley is predominantly a landscape artist living and working in Feckenham Worcestershire.
His work varies from traditional to semi-abstract featuring the use of both texture and light. Many of his landscapes feature winter trees drawing his inspiration from the Worcestershire countryside where he lives and the work of Roland Hilder.
He has had paintings selected for several years in the Royal Birmingham Society of Artist’s Prize Exhibition in June and has sold to collectors in Europe, Japan and the USA.
In 2011 he held a successful month long solo exhibition at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham and one of his paintings has been selected as Best in Show at the Quinton Arts festival in Birmingham in both 2011 and 2012 and again in 2015.
Examples of his work and details were chosen to be featured in the American ICA publication “International Contemporary Artists” and in 2012 his work was featured in the national “the Artist” magazine.
In Feb 2013 he was elected to be a member of the prestigious Birmingham Watercolour Society and has been involved over the last few years in the “apictureforhealth” charity in Worcestershire. In September 2014 one of his paintings gained a runners up award in an international “Artist of the Year” competition sponsored and judged by Winsor and Newton.
In March 2015 he was invited to exhibit for a month for a second time in acrylics at Malvern Theatre and one of his paintings gained a highly commended award in the “Artist” magazine’s Artist of the Year competition at the Patchings Art Festival held in June. Another of his paintings gained 3rd prize in an international art competition judged by Daler Rowney.
In 2017 Daler and Rowney awarded one of his watercolours 2nd prize in Artistinfo’s annual “Artist of the Year “ international competition and one of his acrylics was accepted onto a worldwide internet exhibition.
He has been accepted to exhibit and demonstrate at the annual Patchings Art Festival near Nottingham and whilst he has been a regular tutor at the Centre of England Arts Centre he also does demonstrations and runs workshops for art societies throughout the Midlands.
During lockdown he wrote an online tutorial published by the SAA on his treescapes and has had one of them accepted as a finalist in Broadway Arts Festivals Open Art Competition both in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023 a watercolour, Silver Forest, was selected as one of 7 finalists in an international competition run by the SAA in the Professional Artist Landscape Category and as such will be exhibited in a London gallery in October .
Work is now on sale through the gallery at the Jinney Ring Centre, Hanbury