David has had no formal training as an artist but has always had an overriding passion to paint. He was born and brought up in Tenby , attended University in Cardiff and qualified and practised as an Architect in London and Cardiff for many years. An increase in demand for his architectural watercolours led to an exhibition of paintings at the Coach House Gallery in Caerfili and all the paintings exhibited were sold.

David, his wife and son, moved back to his native Pembrokeshire and into his present home “High Seas” in 1999. He combines his painting with his profession as an Architect. Working originally in the medium of watercolour the majority of David's work is now in traditional oils. His versatility is wide ranging and although his favourite inspiration is his home town and in particular the harbour, boats and seasonal moods of the town he has also gained a reputation in the challenging subject of portraiture.

David exhibits annually at the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London.

davidjpmorgan.com

Gillian is a highly acclaimed watercolour artist specialising in landscapes in and around the British Isles.

She began her career by studying at an Art Collage in London, after completion of her course she travelled to Indonesia where she lived for a few years before returning to the UK in 1983 to settle in Wales. Her dramatic use of colour and understanding of lighting effects bring life to her paintings of often isolated and remote landscapes. She possesses distinctive qualities which she has built upon resulting in over 200 limited edition, highly collectable prints. In a survey undertaken by The Fine Art Trade Guild in January 2004, Gillian McDonald was voted the most popular female UK artist and second in the most popular artist overall category.

gillian-mcdonald.co.uk

John Knapp-Fisher was born in London in 1931 and studied graphic design at Maidstone College of Art. He painted and exhibited from his seagoing vessel for five years before moving to West Wales in 1965 to become one of the principalities foremost landscape artists.

He works in water-colour, ink, and oil colour on paper. His paintings mostly relate to the coastal area of the Pembrokeshire peninsula. Knapp-Fisher has exhibited widely in Britain and abroad, developing a large and loyal following. He is now one of Wales’ most popular and well-known artists with his work represented in many public and private collections. These include the National Museum of Wales Cardiff, The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth and The Contemporary Art Society of Wales. Knapp-Fisher was elected a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1992.

Linda Norris completed a B.A. (Hons) in Visual Art at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1978. She trained to paint in a tight figurative way in the Euston Road Tradition. For fifteen years she earned her living as a community artist and 16 years ago moved to Pembrokeshire to concentrate on her own work.

She has an emotional relationship with landscapes that are on the edge of things, where the constantly changing light creates a dynamic landscape. The Pembrokeshire coast is just that. Linda paints using either acrylic or oil paint, sometimes she makes her own paper, or add plaster, sand, cloth, feathers even, to the painting surface. She often revels in very textured and messy surfaces. The element of play is central to her enjoying her work.

Linda has numerous solo and group exhibitions in leading galleries in London and across the UK and Ireland.

linda-norris.com

Welsh artist Cynth b.1949, was educated at Llanelli Art School, Caerleon College of Education and Open University (BA). Cynth specialises in textile artworks having developed her technique ‘Intaglio Strati’ based on cut & layered work in cotton, wool and Indian silks, many purchased in India. Her textile technique evolved from having previously produced etchings – some of which were selected for the Mini Print International Biennial Show in Cadesque. The thought process of etching and Intaglio Strati is similar i.e. working from the back to the front. Recently a challenge of creating a mini textile piece led to exhibiting with a group show at Arton Gallery, Kyoto.

Her subjects vary from Pembrokeshire coastal views searching for images that we might just miss in our busy lives to figurative semi abstracts and botanical. Her Pembrokeshire near Fishguard studio illustrates her diversity of techniques. She transforms her water colour paintings or oil pastel drawings into wonderful large scale dramatic and richly coloured fabric wall panels and art quilts. Some are 2D textile reliefs whilst others are 3D. Many are reproduced as giclee prints too.

Cynth’s diversity is reflected in her careers: teaching art & design, directing Artlink West Yorkshire community arts organisation, tourism in Greece, Italy, France and in her own art & agri-tourism business in Carmarthen until 2004 and being a freelance artist. Cynth is currently writing a book about her textile technique, named ‘Retire to Wear Purple – No Chance!’ the title from a recent art quilt. She now exhibits mainly in West Wales. Her artwork is in private collections in Wales, England, USA, France and Canada.

cynthweyman-artist.co.uk

Born in Oldham and essentially self-taught, John Thompson paints groups of figures, cloth capped and anonymous, that loom, loiter, parade and parley in that obscure way that baffles children. He is now compared to other, better known northern artists such as Theodore Major, Harold Riley and the man himself, L. S. Lowry. This recognition has taken time to develop, for John is now past eighty and although he now devotes all his time to painting, this has not always been the case.

John was born into a typical, almost clichéd, working class environment where everyone knew everyone else and everyone was poor. For many years John had varying kinds of employment, where his talent for painting played only a minor but nevertheless reoccurring role. At the age of fifty-six, John decided to become a full time artist. John’s output is highly eclectic, deriving ideas from many different subjects. But his central theme is that of groups of northern working men.

John has achieved great success and critical acclaim over the last few years, his work is widely collected both at home and abroad. He has had successfull one man shows in Manchester and in 2002 three of his paintings were purchased by the House of Lords in London and are now hanging in the Committee Rooms. A book on John, his life and work was published in March 2006 and has become a best seller. Since the book was published he has become one of the best selling artists in the country and has been the subject of features on Channel 4 and Granada TV. He has also attracted major national press publicity and had been hailed as "The New Lowry" by the Independent. In the past 2 years, major exhibitions of his work have been held in Manchester, London, Falmouth, Burford and Hale. His work has already sold in America.

At 84 he is still as energetic as ever and is enjoying his success.

Nguyen Thanh Binh was born in 1954 in Hanoi, and is now based in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He graduated from the Hanoi College of Fine Art in 1972, and went on to specialize in oil painting at the Gia Dinh National College of Fine Art in Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh Binh well known for his works depicting female figures wearing the white Ao Dai dress. He also draws his inspiration from classical music and his daughter, a ballerina.

His paintings are poetic and perhaps romantic, and at the same time carefully observed and boldly executed. His use of space and limited use of colour is very characteristic of his work. Although Thanh Binh has been influenced by western contemporary art, his art falls well within the philosophical and aesthetic sphere of Asia. Thanh Binh has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Vietnam, as well as in group exhibitions in Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Sydney, Thailand and in the USA.

Dao Hai Phong was born in 1965, the son of the well-known Vietnamese artist Dao Duc. He studied at the Ha Noi college of Film and theatre from 1982 – 1987 and won a medal as designer at the Vietnam Film Festival for his contribution to this museum. In 1987, Phong graduated from the College of Drama and Cinematography, where he studied in the Art Film Design Department.

Phong likes to use blue and other luminous, radiating colors. Most of his paintings are landscapes inspired by his travels when working on films. Although he was born and grew up in the city of Hanoi, he has recently been drawn more and more to the beauty of the countryside.

Since 1992 he has held the position of Chief Designer of the Vietnam Film Studio, but in the meantime has continued to paint and exhibit his work. Phong has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions all over the world including Vietnam, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Laos, Switzerland, Israel, Washington DC and across the US.

Le Thiet Cuong was born in 1962 into a family of artists in Hanoi. His father, Le Nguyen, is a renowned film scriptwriter, playwright and poet. His mother, Do Phuong Thao, is a famous cinematographer.

Cuong is part of a generation that has seen enormous changes within his country. From 1964 to 1973, Le Thiet's family evacuated to Binh Da village in the Vietnamese countryside. After returning to Hanoi, he studied Set Design and Animation at the Vietnam State Film College from 1985 to 1990.

Cuong’s work addresses the impermanence of all things and life, according to Buddhist ideals and the lessons of the I-Ching, the Book of Changes. His message is both hopeful and inspiring. He focuses on the value of awareness, simplicity and compassion, as protection from life’s ups and downs.

After his first successful exhibition “The Quite Path” in Hong Kong and Singapore in 1995, Cuong now is a much sought-after artist both in Asia and in the West. His works have been seen in many countries, including Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and the United States. There are public collections of his work in the Singapore National Museum.