Kurt Jackson (born 21 September 1961) is a British painter whose large canvases reflect a concern with natural history, ecology and environmental issues.
Born in Blandford, Dorset, the son of two painters, [1] he developed an early interest in natural history and landscape. He studied zoology at St Peter's College, Oxford, but spent most of his time attending classes at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art or painting in the countryside around Oxford.[ citation needed ] In 1984 he and his wife Caroline Jackson moved to Cornwall; currently (2014), he lives and works near St Just, Penwith. [2]
He paints in mixed media, drawing inspiration from the Cornish landscape around Penwith and elsewhere in Britain and abroad. Appearances on British television include 'Kurt Jackson, A Picture of Cornwall' BBC1 South West, 2005 [1] and 'Kurt Jackson, A Picture of the South West', BBC3, 2005.[ citation needed ] In January 2021, he was featured in two television programmes, an episode of Rick Stein’s Cornwall on BBC and the opening episode of Cornwall and Devon Walks with Julia Bradbury on ITV. [3]
He has been Artist in Residence on the Greenpeace ship Esperanza , at the Eden Project and at Glastonbury Festival since 1999. He has an Honorary Doctorate (DLitt) from Exeter University and is an Honorary Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford University. He is an ambassador for Survival International and frequently works with Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, WaterAid, Oxfam, Surfers Against Sewage and Cornwall Wildlife Trust.[ citation needed ] He is an academician of the Royal West of England Academy.[ citation needed ]
In 2024, Jackson was made a bard of Gorsedh Kernow for "promoting Cornish Identity and Culture" through his work. [4]
The majority of Jackson's work reflects his commitment to the environment and the natural world within Cornwall, although he also works elsewhere in Britain and mainland Europe; recent projects include bodies of work on the Thames, the Avon, the Forth, Ardnamurchan and the Glastonbury Festival series. His paintings frequently carry small commentaries on the scene depicted and show a fascination particularly with the detail of plants and animals within an overall ecology and evoke a calm, spiritual and warm relationship with the landscape, even of apparently bleak scenes. His work has been described as "uplifting" and "transporting". [5] To quote Robert Macfarlane "the bristling of landscape is Kurt Jackson's subject as an artist, and his brilliance as an artist lies in the success with which he represents his subject." [6]
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Judith Margaret Bailey is an English clarinettist, composer and conductor. She was born in Camborne, Cornwall, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1959–63, and. Since 1971 she has been working as a composer and conductor. She conducted the Southampton Concert Orchestra and Petersfield Orchestra for almost 30 years before returning to her native Cornwall around 2001 where she has been conducting for the Cornwall Chamber Orchestra and the Penzance Orchestral Society.
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Bert Biscoe DL, also known by the bardic name Viajor Gans Geryow, is a Cornish politician, historian and bard of the Cornish Gorseth. Biscoe represented Cornwall Council's Truro Boscawen District as an independent Cornwall Councillor until 2019, serving as an independent Truro City Council Councillor for the new Boscawen & Redannick Ward.
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Kitty Lee Jenner was a Cornish artist, bard and writer who helped to set up the Cornish Gorsedh. She grew up in Cornwall and studied art in London. She later became an author, publishing six novels under the name Katharine Lee, as well as writing books on Christian symbolism. She became known as Mrs Henry Jenner and Katharine Jenner following her marriage to Henry Jenner in 1877. The couple had one child together. To begin with, she was the more famous person in the relationship.
Craig Weatherhill was a Cornish antiquarian, novelist and writer on the history, archaeology, place names and mythology of Cornwall.
Henry Ardern Lewis was a Church of England minister and Cornish Bard. He was known for several publications during the 1930s dealing with the legends of Joseph of Arimathea and Glastonbury Abbey.
Cecil Herbert Beer was a Cornish bard and politician.
FACTS: Born in 1961, in Blandford, Dorset, Kurt Jackson was the son of two painters.