A  B  O  U  T

Jo Thorne is a contemporary expressionist artist based in Bristol, UK. She graduated from University of Hertfordshire with a BA Hons in Fine Art in 1998 and has worked in various creative roles over the years, returning to practising fine art full time in 2024.

Mainly inspired by the local Somerset countryside, and characterised by vibrant colours and a play on light, Jo's work laces together the space that lies between the waking world and the imaginary. Taking inspiration from nature, music and literature, Jo creates semi-abstract paintings which give a sense of ‘other worldliness’, where nothing seems quite real and living things appear to glow.

​

Jo is represented by leading galleries in the South West. Her work can be found in The Brownston Gallery in Devon, A2 Gallery in Wells, Black Swan Arts in Frome and Una in Bath. She has also exhibited at The Anna Lovely Gallery in London and Bluestone Gallery, formerly situated in Devizes.

​

Jo says, 

​

"I want to take the viewer on a journey to paradoxical realm where the tangible meets fantasy. I particularly enjoy working on larger scale paintings which allows me the space to express freely. Using vibrant colours to create pits and troughs of light, I try to conjure a dreamlike mood that feels both familiar yet unreal and gives the sense that the subject matter is somehow breathing. Drawings of nature are used as a reference to guide the initial composition for my paintings, but I then take an abstract expressionist approach, working to music to allow my mind to reach a meditative state and respond in a purely automatic way. The purpose is not only to try to capture the physical subject matter, but also the sense of inner mood and memory that is recalled when engaged in the creative process. I see art as a means of communicating with people from all walks of life through the universal language of visual storytelling. I want people to step into a parallel world that evokes a sense of optimism, underpinning a theme that we must cherish all living things and life's untold mysteries.

​

​