From rendering realistic water to getting good source material, painting outdoor pools comes with a unique set of challenges. These three artists explain why turning the lidos of London into much-loved artworks is always a joyful experience.
By Rebecca Bradbury
Priscilla Watkins
Drawn to the way light interacts with the water, this Brixton-based mixed media artist has been immortalising her local lido for nearly two decades. Like so many mums, I used to take my kids to the lido when they were little. It was back in the days when you were allowed to take photographs in public pools, and one time I took a disposable underwater camera with me. When I got the pictures developed from Boots, a few photos I had randomly shot underwater fell out of the wallet and I was entranced. I couldn’t believe these images of headless swimmers. I had been looking for a new subject to paint and thought, well, I’ll paint them then.
To get photographic references now, I have to ask the lido management for permission to set up a photoshoot. I don’t work with models though. My husband is a really good photographer and he’ll come along and take shots of me. I do feature a lot in my own artwork, but it’s purely practical. Unless it’s my friend, Maggie – she’s always willing to put on her best floral swim cap and do a few dives for me.
Brockwell Lido is my lovely home lido and I’m a regular swimmer there. I go all year round – summer and winter – to calm down and reset. It’s social too, a real communal experience, and there is something deeply meditative about swimming there.
It might sound like a cliché, but the lido is my happy place. The reason I paint the lido isn’t because I love swimming though. It’s because what you get at the lido is so unique. The direct, overhead sunlight is just incredible and beneath the water’s surface is this magical world. You’ve got these headless figures that look so vulnerable yet, also so free.
Ask any oil painter what excites them and they’ll tell you it’s this light and shade. It’s how stories are told and how drama is created – and why lidos are ideal subjects for the medium. But it’s important to remember less is definitely more. I’ve become fluent in the language of water and learnt too much detail deadens it.
What do I want people to get from my paintings? I don’t want to put my pain on the canvas.
