Her influences are painters David Jones and Winifred Nicholson, although, as she tells me, she is as influenced by words as images. “I love Ted Hughes”, she says “and George Mackay Brown. I like my pictures to tell stories.”

Philippa Lithgow produces work which responds to the natural world. "I used to live in a very wooded place when I was an art student so I worked a lot with that kind of landscape”, she tells me, “But then in the 70s I moved to the Downs. At first I thought it was really bleak but then I started appreciating how magnificent it can be.” She draws inspiration from the ancient feel of the landscape and the way that it bears traces of centuries of use. “I love the way that it is scarred from the presence of animals and humans and age and yet it still endures. Also the way that even though the south-east is quite built-up, the countryside hasn't lost any of its character.”

Philippa works in oils and builds up the paint in layers. “I prefer to work on a canvas that already has a painting on it, perhaps one that hasn't worked out too well and let it sort-of live again as the basis of a new work.” The traces of the old painting, I learn, create an interesting texture which she then manipulates to create the desired effect. “It's much more inspiring than working from a completely white canvas”, she adds, “it gets you in the right frame of mind, already having the right colours on the page.” ER