‘Evening on the River Colne’ by Gisela Langsdorff

Gisela Langsdorff was born in Berlin 1940. She worked as a translator and secretary in Geneva and later moved to England.

She has travelled extensively in Canada, the USA and Mexico and achieved an honours degree in the History of Art and Literature from the University of Essex, and a Diploma in Education from the University of London.

In 1985 she attained a Diploma in Fine Art at Colchester School of Art, and since that time has worked as an artist, concentrating mainly on landscapes, painted in oil on canvas. Many of these reflect the riverside views in Wivenhoe where she now lives and the mountain landscape of the Alsace where she also spends part of every year.

She has held solo exhibitions in the Wivenhoe Gallery and in Freiburg in South Germany.

She says of her work:

Gisela Langsdorff

‘I prefer to paint in the open air best of all, but the finishing process is often happening in the studio, and sometimes this can be a longish procedure.

These days I paint mainly straight on the canvas, without previous sketches or drawings on the canvas. Sometimes I use several photographs to help my memory. I also do some Studio paintings that are conceived from memory and are often a combination of landmarks that make a place special to me.

I use only a few basic oil colours, as I like to mix my own colours. therefore all I need is a few tubes of paint, brushes, turpentine, a canvas, a portable easel and a pallette.’

Gisela’s work will be on show at the gallery until the end of November.