Winter Hawthorn, 2026

Lorna Kirin  

“Hengrave, where I live and work, is nestled in the heart of the River Lark valley, in Suffolk. We help manage a couple of acres of ancient woodland that is surrounded by beautiful waterways and a network of vital ditches. I’m passionate about painting water in any form; capturing the unceasing power of the sea, it’s rhythmical movement, translucency and the quiet reflective spots on our rivers that distort the world around, giving me the opportunity to visually reinterpret the abstracted environment.” Born in Surrey in 1967, Lorna Holdcroft-Kirin is now based in Suffolk, England. Having trained at the Wimbledon School of Art she was awarded the Prize for Drawing. She then went on to gain her BA Hons in Fine Art from North East Polytechnic (now University of East London). From the heart of London’s East End, Lorna drew inspiration from the industrial landscape and disused dockland areas. It was here that she began exploring her love of colour and texture, which have informed her painting ever since. Lorna’s current collection of landscapes and seascapes are a world away from from her artistic playground of industrial, East-end London. However, the process by which she achieves such rich tones and depths is lent equally well to the soothing vistas of the Great British Countryside that are characteristic of her current work. Lorna says “I love playing with contrasts and like to push pigments to evoke a real sense of emotion and to make the subject resonate. The thrill of applying paint to a surface is just so exciting. With bold washes and thick textured brush marks I love to explore the possibilities that can be achieved with each media. I cover the surface with paint quickly to get a sense of colour and tone, and work the whole painting at once. I also use a lot of water, deliberately. This is to wash out areas of semi-dry watercolour or to cause the break-up of pastel pigment. This gives often surprising and always intriguing results. I love the journey each painting takes me on – it’s definitely a two way process!”