Mary Knowland is an artist who has lived and worked in an around Oxford for most of her life. Her body of work on display at Derwent House, encompasses waterscapes incorporating several media, acrylic, ink, pastel, collage and charcoal.

Mary Knowland’s father was a painter and gave her a box of oil paints aged six. Whilst painting together he really taught her to look, consequently she sees potential paintings everywhere. After training and many years working in clay, Mary took a course in textiles which incorporated drawing and painting. This took her back to her roots and after the constraints of ceramics, freed up her approach to making two-dimensional work in varied style and materials to suit the subject.