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Cherryl Angela Fountain (born 1950) is an English still life, landscape and botanical artist. As the daughter of a gamekeeper and a resident of rural east Kent, much of her work reflects an environment of farming, botanical gardens and country life. Her work has been accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on twenty-eight occasions, and she has received bursaries and numerous awards in honour of her work. She is also involved in community projects, and for many years, in parallel with her own art work, she has been involved in adult art education in Kent.

Background
Cherryl Angela Fountain was born in 1950 in Lincolnshire, the daughter of gamekeeper Peter Robin Fountain and Ruby Margaret Elmer, who were both originally from Yorkshire. Her mother and her brother Julian have been referenced in her drawings and paintings. Fountain has been a churchwarden at Badlesmere and Leaveland Churches, where she organises the flower festival each year. She is also involved with St James the Great Church, Sheldwich, and has created a Fruit Map in connection with New House cherry orchard, which lies within the Lees Court estate. The work features Sheldwich Church and part of Lees Court estate.

These local churches, in the shadow of Lees Court estate, form part of the background to the artist's place of work.

Career
Much of Fountain's work has been informed by the environment of rural east Kent. She is an established, figurative, still life and landscape artist "with a particular interest in colour combinations," and she is a botanical artist. She read fine art at the University of Reading, graduating in 1972. Between January 1975 and June 1977 she was a student at the Royal Academy Schools, where she was taught by Jane Dowling and the portrait painter Peter Greenham, among others. At the Royal Academy she was also a student of Roderic Barrett, and as a former student she took part in an exhibition in his memory at the Chappel Galleries in 2006. An early patron was Henry George Herbert Milles-Lade (1940–1996), the 5th Earl Sondes of Lees Court, and Stringmans Farm, Badlesmere, Kent, where Fountain's father Peter was head gamekeeper for many years, running "one of Britain's best shoots." The hunting background is reflected in the hunting subjects of some works, including Beater's Hut, and the Fruit Map which features a pheasant, partridge and woodcock.

Scholarships
Fountain received two scholarships which are reflected in her work. The first, in 1978, was a bursary from the Government of Italy, dedicated to painting and art history in Perugia. The second in 1983 was a bursary from the Richard Ford Foundation, which was founded by Sir Brinsley Ford "to enable young painters to study masterpieces in the Prado," Madrid.

Works
Works by Fountain have been varied, and include the Baptismal Roll (2000) which is an illustrated manuscript now kept at Selling Church, Kent, and portraits of Nigel Nicholson and Claire Palley. Work now in the possession of the National Trust Foundation for Art includes projects at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Nymans, Stoneacre, Barrington Court and Mompesson House. Her still lifes have included "taxidermy, fossils, exotic plants and vegetables."

In 2013 Fountain created a backdrop for Jim Marshall's Malmaison Carnations exhibit, which won a gold medal at the Hampton Court Flower Show. At the 2015 Chelsea Flower Show, Fountain produced backdrops for Irises bred by Cedric Morris, for the Howard Nurseries' gold medal exhibit in the Grand Pavilion. These backdrops, performing the same contextual function as theatrical scenery, were fully-realised, independent artworks, which contributed to the achievement of gold medal awards. The context of this achievement is that a gold-medal Chelsea stand or garden can take two years of "planning, growing and sculpting" and displays are judged on landscaping, horticulture and design. That is to say, it is the display which is judged, not just the individual flowers.

Teaching
Fountain trained as a teacher at Brighton Polytechnic, qualifying in 1973. Between 1991 and 2000 she taught art and design at The North School, Ashford, Kent. She also taught painting and drawing for adults, on behalf of Kent County Council, for over twenty years. She taught the Tanners Street Painters Group at the Faversham Almshouses, Faversham, until 2019.

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
The following list shows a cross-section of Fountain's oevre, including works reflecting development in Italy and Spain, works reflecting the east Kent rural background and family of the artist,    and works featuring the landscape of old Kentish gardens. Over 28 summers, between 1975 and 2013, at least 40 of Fountain's works were accepted for show at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. The context for the achievement of having work accepted for the RASE over 28 different summers is that "every year there are around 13,000 public entries to the Summer Exhibition, with about 700 making it through to hang in the galleries." One of the founding principles of the Royal Academy of Arts was to “mount an annual exhibition open to all artists of distinguished merit.” The RA's Chronicle listings of accepted works demonstrate that fewer than a third of successful entrants achieve acceptance of 40 or more pieces of work across 28 or more summers. Various art interests and Kent institutions have recognised Fountain's achievement in this respect, including author Geoff Hassell; Pippa Palmar, for Kent County Council and Hadlow College; Katherine Tyrell, for the Society of Botanical Artists (resources);  and Emily Maltby, ProLandscaper magazine.

The exhibits were: pencil drawing 164 Cottage Windowsill, drawing 186 Gamekeeper's Porch, oil 1097 Gamekeeper's Garden (1975); oil 144 Cowslips in a Kentish Landscape, oil 646 Mother Knitting in the Kitchen Corner, oil 1167 Elders in the Aviary (1976); 500 Julian at Christmas, oil 988 Summer Garden (1977); linocut 719 Borth Collection (1978); oil 1135 Perugian View From Assisi To San Domenico (1979); oil 977 Broadstairs Beach, oil 1116 Perugia, the Aqueduct and Via Appia (1980); oil 470 Skull and Witchesbroom oil 1126 Perugia Pigeons above Via Acquedotto (1981); watercolour 249 Gardens from the Aquaduct, Perugia, oil 1188 Albert's Wistaria, Harry's Irisis, oil 1474 Old Estate Cottages, Lees Court (1982); watercolour 164 Burgos, watercolour 208 Perugia View From the Primavera, oil 1116 Boy With Rabbit (1983); oil 1235 Cottage Gardens (1984); watercolour 731 Cuenca Still Life (1985); pva 601 Indian Summer in a Kent Garden, pva 668 Cuenca Panorama and the Seminary on the Hoz del Huecar (1986); oil 148 After Chelsea, oil 224 San Pedro from the Posada Garden, Cuenca, oil 260 San Pedro from the Posada Garden, Cuenca, Spain (1987); oil 1040 Julian: The Collector (1988); oil 437 Breakfast Time (1989); oil 344 Ancient And Modern (1990); pva 989 Spring in the Lime Walk (1992); oil 286 Moat Walk in April, watercolour 731 Cottage Garden, Sissinghurst (1993); pva 298 Actea to Assam, watercolour 703 In the Pink (1994); pva 447 Colour of Hope, watercolour 710 Consider the Lilies (1996); watercolour 972 From East to West (1997); watercolour 774 Navy Lark, watercolour 764 This Year Jerusalem (2000); watercolour 610 It's a Colourful Life (2001); pva New Beginnings (2002); watercolour 543 Sky High (2003); watercolour 513 A Time to Sow (2004); watercolour 544 Gardener's Alphabet (2011); watercolour 1120 Lonely Hearts Club (2013). According to Kent Online, Fountain exhibited in 2006 also.

Solo and two-person exhibitions
Between 1983 and 2004, Fountain's work was shown in solo and two-person exhibitions bearing her name. These exhibitions were at: the New Grafton Gallery, London (1981, 1983, 1986);  the Beaney House of Art and Knowledge (formerly the Royal Museum) Canterbury (1983, 1984, 1986)); the Open Eye Gallery Edinburgh (1985); the Drew Gallery, Canterbury (1987); the Canterbury Fringe Festival; The Tabernacle, Machynlleth, Wales (1994); the John Davies Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold (1994); Mompesson House, Salisbury (1996); the Nevill Gallery, Canterbury (2004); the Fleur de Lys Centre, Faversham, Kent (2004). In 2008 Fountain exhibited alongside Brenda Evans at Horsebridge Arts Centre, Whitstable.

Group exhibitions
Over several decades, Fountain's work has been shown in group exhibitions, including: Singer Friedlander Exhibition, Royal Society of Portrait Painters; English Watercolour, Waterman Fine Art, London; Beaney House of Art and Knowledge, Canterbury; World of Watercolour, Park Lane Hotel, London; The Broad Horizon Thomas Agnew & Sons; Tenterden Gallery; Bourne Gallery, Reigate; Open Eye, Edinburgh; Drew Gallery, Canterbury; Painter-Etchers Exhibition, London; Royal Watercolour Society; Mall Galleries, London.; New Grafton Gallery, London; The Piccadilly Gallery, London; and Maas Gallery, London. National Trust exhibitions were: Centenary Exhibition, Christies; The Long Perspective, Agnews; and Storm Struck at Petworth. In 1991 two pieces by Fountain were exhibited by the London-based arts charity Discerning Eye: Kentish Garden and Cottage Door. In 1992 Discerning Eye showed One O'Clock in the Rose Garden and White Garden in August. In 2015 her works were part of a year-long exhibition at the Fleur de Lis Centre, Faversham, Kent. One of her works featured in an exhibition called Six Self-Portraits at the Museum of Modern Art, Machynlleth, in 2017–2018. In 2019 she exhibited at Plantae, the annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. The watercolours shown at Plantae were: 109 Aunt Dusty, 110 Paul Cook's Miss Indiana and 111 Beauty and the Beast. In the "Inspired at Mompesson House" exhibition in March 2020, Fountain's painting of May Griffin in the Garden at Mompesson featured as a solo display in one of the rooms. It was painted as a National Trust Centenary celebration in 1995.

Awards
Between 1975 and 2019, Fountain was awarded a number of prizes and awards for her work.
 * 1975, Royal Academy Creswick Landscape Prize.
 * 1975, Relief Painting Prize.
 * 1975, Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers bursary, Freedom of the Company and the City.
 * 1975, 1976 and 1977 David Murray Studentship, for the furtherance of landscape painting.
 * 1976, Richard Jack Portrait Prize.
 * 1977, Second prize in the Turner Gold Medal,
 * 1977, British Institution Drawing Award.
 * 1978, Greenshields Foundation Award for Painting.
 * 1986, Royal Academy Christmas Card Prize.
 * 1991, Abbott and Holder Travel Award, Royal Watercolour Society.
 * 2017, St Cuthberts Mill Award "for outstanding watercolour work," Society of Botanical Artists, for Benton Susan and Springs Lease.
 * 2019, Certificate of Exhibiting Excellence for "the most inspiring use of colour", Society of Botanical Artists, for The Beauty and the Beast.

Reviews

 * "For the first time painting of contemporary relevance and imagination [Cowslips in a Kentish landscape (1975)] can be compared with the various formulae for naturalism and feeble imitations that are the usual standard set." James Burr, Apollo Magazine (1976).
 * "She is bang in that line of English eccentric artists, Blake, Calvert, Samuel Palmer, Richard Palmer and Stanley Spencer. These painters had no doubts about their work because they have a skill which enables them to give full rein to their zest for their subjects. Cherryl`s sheer application is amazing." John Ward (1996).
 * With respect to The Kitchen Garden, Barrington Court, Somerset (1995) and Fountain's other works: "[Plants] ... are depicted in the meticulous and colourful detail typical of the artist’s style ... she enhances our perception that flowers please our sense of smell, that fruit enhances our sense of taste and that landscapes often have distant outcrops as sharp to our eyes as the rocky foreground." Dudley Dodd, independent scholar of the Historic Buildings Department of the National Trust (1996).
 * "At the head of my list I would place Peter Greenham and his wife, Jane Dowling, for I have long been not only a great admirer of their work but also of that of the artists who have studied under them — Cheryll Fountain, Peter Kuhfeld, Edmund Fairfax-Lucy, Martin Shortis and Martin Yeoman." Sir Brinsley Ford (1991).
 * "Outstanding colour work." Penny Stenning, editor of the Society of Botanical Artists journal Scattered seeds (2017).
 * "Outstanding watercolour painting" Katherine Tyrrell (2017).
 * "I used to be absolutely amazed by her complex still life paintings and garden paintings. She has recently begun to paint more flowers - and her brother's extensive collection of chillis!" Katherine Tyrrell (2020).

Reproductions of artworks
Some watercolours and other artworks by Fountain have been reproduced in the following books:
 * . (Cowslips in a Kentish landscape (1975): art reproduction)

Collections
Fountain's work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Wales, and the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, whose pieces by Fountain are kept in the following locations: Mompesson House, Wiltshire; Sissinghurst Castle Garden; Nymans Estate, West Sussex; Mount Stewart, County Down; and Barrington Court, Somerset. One of her watercolours, All things wise and wonderful, is in the Canterbury Museums and Galleries collection. Fountain has six drawings (1977) of Michelangelo's Taddei Tondo in the permanent collection of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Publications

 * (featuring drawings by Fountain on the front page)