Meet the 14 past and present Presidents of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers currently exhibiting at Bankside Gallery as part of The Presidents (11 - 22 June 2025)
Since the inception of both of these Societies, one of each of its members has been elected to be President. During their tenure, they lead the Society along with a Council and other Honorary Officers. They are instrumental in key decisions for the Societies and implementing new initiatives. They also oversee the day to day running of the Society, including Council meetings, exhibitions and electing new members.
Each President brings their own perspective to the role, and they share the connections and resources they have available to them as individual artists to create opportunities benefitting the whole membership during their time in office.
As the Society Presidents, they also become a part of the Bankside Gallery Board of Trustees, who ultimately direct and shape the Gallery as a business and educational charity.
In 2025, Bankside Gallery marks its 45th Anniversary and this exhibition celebrates the contributions of these RWS and RE Presidents in making the Gallery what it is today.
Joseph Winkelman PPRE Hon. RWS
Joseph Winkelman works predominantly in etching and inspirations for his work are based in the natural world. He celebrates these places of geological beauty through careful and methodical observation. In other works, he focuses on the man-made environment, skillfully depicting scenes and landmarks from London in intricate detail on a miniature scale.
Joseph was born in Keokuk, Iowa, USA. He has specialised in intaglio printmaking since 1975 after completing the Oxford University Certificate course in Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Drawing.
Joseph was artist in residence at St John's College, Oxford in 2004.
Public collections holding his work include the Ashmolean Museum, Tate, Victoria & Albert Museum and The British Museum, plus many other significant public collections in the UK and abroad.
Joseph was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1979, and became a full RE Fellow in 1982. He served as President of the RE from 1989 to 1995.
John Doyle MBE PPRWS Hon. RE
An accomplished artist in watercolour pastel and oils, John Doyle was born in Sydenham Hill, and grew up near Chevening. It was while touring Kent in his grandfather’s open-topped Buick that he learned his love of landscape. Many years later John was to spend nine months journeying down the Thames in a small cabin cruiser so that he could paint the wonderful landscapes, and the surrounding towns and villages.
Having stepped back from running an iron foundry, John began to paint seriously in the early 1960s, and attended evening classes under Gerry de Rose and Paul Wyeth at Maidstone School of Art. He concluded that painting could not be taught formally, and said “one could learn most just from being with other painters and observing. John Ward, a good friend gave me much help and advice”.
Exhibitions at Canterbury Cathedral led to a commission to paint it from the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Coggan, which was presented to Pope Paul VI when Coggan visited the Vatican. Now aged 97 John is still painting, well deserving of the MBE he was awarded for services to art.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 1977, John became a full Member in 1983, and served as President of the RWS from 1997 – 2000.
David Carpanini PPRE Hon. RWS
The core inspiration for David Carpanini’s work comes from his birthplace in the Welsh Afan Valley.
He says: “I believe that man has a special bond with that part of Earth which nourished his boyhood and it is in the valleys and former mining communities of South Wales that I found the trigger for my creative imagination”.
Through his work, David’s love of etching is clearly visible. His instinctive delight in ‘black and white’ shows his natural tendency to see and compose in terms of tonal masses creating these expressive and striking works.
David was born in Glamorgan in 1946 and trained at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design, Cheltenham; then the Royal College of Art; and the University of Reading.
His work has been the subject of several television programmes and is represented in numerous public, corporate and private collections worldwide. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. He held the post of Professor of Art at the University of Wolverhampton from 1992 - 2000, and he is a member of the New English Art Club and Royal West of England Academy.
David joined the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) as an Associate in 1979, became a full Member in 1982 and he retired from the Society in 2023. He served as the first Welsh RE President from 1995 –2003.
Francis Bowyer PPRWS Hon. RE
Francis Bowyer’s artistic practice encompasses watercolour, oil, and mixed media, showcasing his ability to create evocative and dynamic compositions. He finds inspiration in familiarity and often chooses subjects that he knows and understands, such as his allotment, his studio, or the coast at Walberswick. His watercolour works, in particular, highlight moments of drama or interesting movement, drawing the viewer into his paintings through their vibrancy and expressiveness.
Francis says “Light and colour play an important part in my paintings. The brief moment captured. A richness and enjoyment of colour is always at the heart of the subjects that I am attracted to.”
Francis was born in London and studied at St. Martins School of Art and Chelsea School of Art.
He was invited by the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan as a War Artist in 2013 and won the Turner Award for a picture of Camp Bastion in 2014. His work is held in several collections including the Royal Collection and H.R.H. The Prince of Wales Collection.
Awards include W.H.Patterson Fine Arts Award and The Arts Club Prize at the 226th Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Francis has been an invited artist to the Discerning Eye Exhibition.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 1986, Francis became a full Member in 1991, and served as President of the RWS from 2000 - 2003.
Anita Klein PPRE Hon. RWS
Anita Klein’s subject matter centres on family life from a female perspective, represented through small moments: being besieged by two children wanting hugs at the swimming pool, mending a daughter’s teddy bear, choosing a guinea pig, or preparing for a first day at school. For all their apparent simplicity, they capture the rich essence of a minor domestic moment. These works encapsulate the dynamic of family life and elevate every day moments to an art form.
“I think we all have a lot in common and the people who like my work see themselves and their lives in it. I don’t want you to think you have a picture of me on your wall, I’d much rather you felt that it was you. What I want to do is to celebrate ordinariness, the poetry of the everyday. The things we are all too busy to notice.”
Anita studied at Chelsea and the Slade schools of art. Her work is in many private and public collections in Europe, the USA and Australia, including Arts Council England, the British Museum and the British Library. She has had many solo exhibitions in London as well as worldwide, and three monographs of her paintings have been published. She divides her time between studios in London and Italy.
Anita was elected as an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1991, and became a full RE Member in 1995. She served as President of the RE between 2003 – 2006.
Richard Sorrell PPRWS Hon. RE
Richard Sorrell was born in 1948 in Essex. Son of Alan and Elizabeth Sorrell (both also Members of the Royal Watercolour Society), Richard studied at Walthamstow Art School from 1965 - 6, Kingston College of Art 1966-9 and the Royal Academy Schools from 1969 -72.
Richard specialises in figurative painting and some objective landscape painting and aerial views.
"The pictures are inventions, or reinventions of reality, based on a lifetime of looking, and built up from sketches, ideas, and growing out of the process of painting itself. By 'the process of painting' I mean the manipulation of shapes and colours, their alteration to fit in with each other, and the change in the balance, rhythm and meaning of the picture that this entails.
Perhaps because they are inventions, the pictures show a kind of reality that is unfamiliar to many people. They are not, for instance, photographic images. They are paintings of things rather than the appearance of things. Sometimes they may appear a little awkward and strange, but it is their awkwardness that gives them the power to communicate, to say things rather than simply to illustrate them. “
Richard has exhibited his work extensively across the UK and his work is held in collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, National Trust, Museum of London and The Courtauld Institute of Art.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 1975, Richard became a full Member in 1978, and served as President of the RWS from 2006 – 2009.
Hilary Paynter MBE PPRE Hon. RWS
Hilary Paynter works in wood engraving, and whilst some of her work focuses on socio-political issues, in others Hilary creates vast and detailed landscapes using her wood engravings in a collaging process.
Hilary says: “It’s exciting breaking through the limitations imposed by a tiny block…I don’t map out these worlds, as I place different pieces of wood engravings together, they create unexpected juxtapositions that set me out on a different trail.”
Born in Dunfermline in 1943, Hilary studied sculpture and wood engraving at Portsmouth College of Art. She was elected to the Society of Wood Engravers in 1966 and was responsible for reviving the Society’s annual touring exhibition. She was their Chair from 1999–2006 and has been Exhibitions Secretary since 1980.
Hilary has exhibited widely and her work features in many prestigious collections. The V&A holds the largest collection of her work with over 70 wood engravings. Her work has illustrated several books and her own monograph entitled 'Full Circle', with over 600 engravings, was published in 2010.
In 2023 Hilary was recognised for her life-long commitment to art with an MBE for services to the arts.
Hilary was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1985, and became a full RE Member in 1987. Hilary served as President of the RE from 2006 – 2011.
David Paskett PPRWS Hon. RE
David Paskett was born in 1944 and studied at Hornsey, Exeter and Liverpool Colleges of Art.
David lived in Hong Kong from 1986 – 1990, which alongside neighbouring China has continued to be a major source of inspiration for his meticulously detailed and atmospheric paintings. He has gained an international reputation for his compelling and offbeat images of the country, finding much of his subject matter in markets, on waterways, and in the corners of back streets. Often pushing the boundaries of still life, his paintings are characterised by their attention to detail, strong repeated pattern, clearly defined shadows and edges and carefully controlled tone. While David is known primarily for this precise tonal and personalised realism, abstract imagery and spirited linear drawings are also an integral part of his oeuvre.
As David now has a considerable following in China he is regularly asked to judge, lecture and exhibit there. In recent years he has exhibited regularly in Kings College Chapel, Cambridge as part of the Xu Zhimo Poetry Festival whilst creating a series of work on Chinese Opera-Kunqu. In 2022 the Italian Museum of Paper in Fabriano held a major exhibition of his work in conjunction with the Watercolour Biennale.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 2000, David became a full Member in 2001, and served as President of the RWS from 2009 – 2012.
Bren Unwin PPRE Hon. RWS
Bren Unwin’s artwork focuses on the relationship between a perceiver and their environment based on experience unfolding through movement over time. Her research is a quest, both theoretically and through ongoing art practice, to better understand the multifarious nature of landscape experience.
Each new work informs the next piece, as well as holding traces of a multitude of past experiences and influences. Observations and feelings feed into the work over a prolonged period; layers are built, removed, built again, reorganised. By these repeated actions, the work eventually takes on its own voice, unfolding over time, rather like a piece of music.
Bren’s work is held in many international collections including the British Museum, London, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Royal Collection of His Majesty The King.
Bren was awarded an MA (research) Fine Art in 2004 and a PhD, along with the Chancellor’s
medal for outstanding doctoral research, in 2008 for her work on landscape experience and Fine Art Practice by the University of Hertfordshire. She is also a Fellow of the Newlyn Society of
Artists.
She was awarded the Gwen May Graduate Prize by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 2004. Bren was elected as an Associate Member in 2006, and became a full Member in 2009.
Bren then served as President of the RE from 2011 – 13.
Thomas Plunkett PPRWS Hon. RE
Thomas Plunkett’s work is concerned with fragments in time and suggestions of place, floating on a ground of the past. The evocation of mood and feeling, a glimpse of a moment, a journey through a landscape strewn with shapes and colour, symbols and architecture. Facets of different horizons and views all feature in his paintings. He often travels with a sketchbook and draws the architecture around him. These drawings are then distilled and abstracted through memory and imagination into paintings.
Thomas was born in London and studied at the University of Chester and UCL’s Institute of Education. He has exhibited his work widely, most recently at Chris Beetles Gallery, London, Shenzhen International Watercolour Biennale and previously at the Glasgow Arts Club with the Royal Scottish Watercolour Society (RSW), Fabriano Museum, Fabriano, Italy, the Wagner Art Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales and the Wollongong City Art Gallery, Australia.
His work can be found in the collections of the BBC at Broadcasting House, and in many private collections in the UK and worldwide, including those of the Bishop of St. Albans, the actor John Malkovich and His Majesty the King.
Thomas undertakes many commissions, with clients including IMG Media, St Albans Cathedral, Knebworth House, Deloitte and the University of Chester.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 2008, Thomas became a full Member in 2011 and served as President of the RWS from 2012 - 2017.
Mychael Barratt PPRE Hon. RWS
Canadian-born Mychael Barratt considers himself very much a Londoner ever since arriving for what was meant to be a two-week stay over thirty years ago. He has that immigrant’s zeal for his adopted home and includes local settings and recognizable vistas in much of his work. His paintings and prints display a love of art history and a kinship with Hogarth in particular, but the emotional current flows to Chagall, the gentle master of joyfulness, optimism and family love.
Language is hugely important too. His titles are an integral part of the work and the action often involves verbal and visual puns and references to artistic and literary themes.
Taking inspiration from art and history, his works feature artists and literary characters from across the centuries, re-imagined with their pets. London also features heavily as a backdrop and maps often feature in Mychael’s works.
After coming to London in 1984, Mychael graduated from Central St Martin's School of Art a few years later. His work is exhibited all around the UK, as well as Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. He has works in various public collections including the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum, the Aberystwyth University School of Art Collection, the British Library's permanent collection of maps, and His Majesty The King’s private collection.
Mychael was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1999, becoming a full Member in 2002 and then serving as President of the RE from 2013 - 2018.
Jill Leman PPRWS Hon. RE
Born in the USA, Jill's family came to the UK in the 1950s. After studying at Colchester School of Art where she was fortunate to be taught by visiting tutors Edward Bawden and John Nash. She then went on to study Graphic Design at the Central School of Art & Design, and afterwards worked in publishing until becoming freelance.
In 1996 Jill decided to return to her first love of drawing and painting, and now paints daily in her North London home. Jill is inspired by domestic subjects such as flowers from the garden, a piece of china, or the view from a window. She has discovered her own gentle style which explores and promotes colour and patterns found in nature and man-made objects, especially those she treasures.
Jill says:
‘My home and studio are all one, so my subjects are mainly flowers and still life - sometimes cats, buildings and portraits. I have things in front of me here, and I can just paint them, I don't have to go anywhere else. Also, I feel that I paint what I know best. My pictures are for people to hang on their walls and enjoy’.
Jill’s paintings have been exhibited widely in the UK. She has had several solo shows and her paintings have been in many group exhibitions including The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition.
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 2009, Jill became a full Member in 2012, and served as the first female President of the RWS from 2017 – 2023.
David Ferry PRE
David Ferry works in a variety of mediums primarily in artists books and photomontage. He uses imagery both original and found to create complex, layered works exploring the dynamic between humans and their environment provoking a social commentary between wit, symbolism, kitsch, and the natural world.
David was born in Blackpool in 1957. After leaving school at 15, he worked as a bingo caller and road sweeper along the Blackpool promenade before studying a Foundation course at the Blackpool College of Technology and Art, furthering his studies at the Camberwell School of Art, London and the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.
He is Emeritus Professor of Printmaking and Book Arts, Cardiff School of Art and Design, Wales; former Associate Professor of Media at the Long Island University in New York and former Head of Fine Art at the Winchester School of Art. He is a Trustee of the Sidney Nolan Trust UK.
His prints and book arts have been collected for major international art institutions and corporate and university collections in Australia, Europe, North America, South Africa, and the UK. His award-winning book on the process of montage and collage: 'Painting Without a Brush', was published in 1991 and translated into French and Spanish, and is an established curriculum book in North American colleges and schools.
David was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 2006 and promoted to a full Member in 2012. He has served as President of the RE since 2018.
Charles Williams PRWS Hon. RE
Charles Williams says of his work: “English illustrators of the past two hundred years have inspired me as much as the great painters. I think it is called 'humanism'. Not very fashionable, but I am afraid I'm not either. People are filthy and beautiful, nasty and sublime, wicked and humane, evil and full of the most heart-breaking charity, and I want to paint it all. Sex, shopping, fear, love, television and sacrifice. I paint, rather than take photos, because painting allows me to improvise. My studio is a place for me to run with ideas and follow undefined feelings toward some kind of definition. I cannot really say what that is, other than a sense of recognition. So, my chief studio rule is no sketches, no photos, no studies, nothing. People seem to assume that the paintings come from somewhere, but I promise you, they are simply à la tête”.
Born in Illinois, USA, Charles initially studied at Maidstone College of Art, and the Royal Academy Schools. Alongside his artistic practice he has also been involved in Higher Education art teaching for many years, and in 2023 completed a PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University.
He exhibits his work in London, Europe and the USA, including solo shows at Thompsons of London, and the Bakersfield Museum of Modern Art, California, USA amongst others. His publication ‘Basic Drawing: How To Draw What You See’ was released in September 2011 and the follow-up, ‘Basic Watercolour’ in July 2014 (Robert Hale, London).
Elected an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) in 2007, Charles became a full Member in 2010, and has served as President of the RWS from 2023 to date.
From left to right: Richard Sorrell, Jill Leman, Francis Bowyer, Bren Unwin, David Paskett, Hilary Paynter, Mychael Barratt, David Ferry & Charles Williams
Read more about the artists...
Introducing the RE President: David Ferry
International Women's Day Series: Jill Leman
The Poetry of the Everyday: Interview with Anita Klein
Meet the RWS President: Charles Williams
