I paint the light and weather of Britain’s North Atlantic landscapes.
Spending much of the year walking, camping and sea kayaking, I work directly from nature before developing larger paintings in the studio.
I am interested in the atmospheric and textural possibilities of watercolour to capture the essence of these wild locations, experimenting with handmade paints and paper to enable both a delicacy and a robustness of mark-making untypical of the medium.
Whilst the studio work is rarely topographical, it is deeply rooted in place and reflects a lifelong, heartfelt entanglement with the beauty and fragility of the living world.
Steve Tompkins MBE LLD(hon) BArch
Architect, painter and environmental activist.
Steve grew up in the Northamptonshire countryside, studied architecture at Bath and founded the Stirling Prize winning architecture studio Haworth Tompkins where he worked between 1991 and 2025.
In 2023 he was awarded an MBE for services to architecture and to the arts.
In 2019 he co-founded the regenerative design lobby groups Architects Declare and Built Environment Declares currently active in 28 countries worldwide.
He divides his time between London, Cumbria and NW Scotland.