Gill Watkiss obituary

My mother, Gill Watkiss, who has died aged 85, was an artist whose paintings took their inspiration from the county of Cornwall, where she lived for most of her life.

Gill focused on the everyday interaction of Cornish folk with their environment: in churchyards, market squares and parks, by the seaside, or out walking in the countryside.

Although men figured in her paintings, the overall impression was of a celebration of the women of the towns and villages of the county: sturdy, independent, often strong featured and facing the windswept elements – with colour in a scarlet scarf or red lips, a bright dress, or a flower in the hair.

Her imagery of Cornwall, the people, the places, and its hauntingly beautiful coastline have become highly sought after and collected internationally. Her work was shown in many exhibitions, including at Birmingham University (1973), Exeter University (1976), the Salthouse Gallery in St Ives (1983), Guernsey Gallery (1988) and New Crafton Gallery in London (1992).

Gill was born in Hackney, east London, to Dennis Tomlin, a printer, and Constance (nee Broadbridge), a housewife. She was brought up in nearby Walthamstow, where she went to the local secondary school, after which she got married at the age of 18 in 1957 to the painter, potter and art teacher Reg Watkiss, with whom she relocated to Cornwall. They first lived in the hamlet of St Levan, and in the late 1960s moved to the small mining town of St Just, the inspiration for much of her work and the sole subject of her paintings for the following eight years.

After moving from St Just to Penzance, where she lived for the rest of her life, Gill’s subject matter moved on, encapsulating winding lanes, coastal paths and towns and villages across Cornwall. Local parks and playgrounds were also a popular theme, each painting telling a story of love, loss, life and everyday events.

In 2002 a book of 35 of her paintings, Gill Watkiss – Paintings 1974-2002, was published. For many years she worked with her brother, David Tomlin, a printer, who frequently made lithographs of her paintings.

Despite the popularity of her work and the recognition it brought her, Gill was a very private person. She did not seek or enjoy publicity and lived only to paint and to be with her family, having, over the years, juggled her artistic endeavours with bringing up six children, Dawn, Sharon, Rebecca, Rachael Julian and me.

Reg died in 2011. She is survived by her children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.