Victoria Gillow
Teaching and facilitating engagement in creativity and art has been a lifetime passion and has always worked alongside my own work as a practitioner. I have a natural energy, coupled with a deep subject knowledge which enables me to help people find their way and share ideas and skills to help promote an individual’s own creative journey.
I am a Cornish painter, based in Falmouth. My practice derives and is inspired by a lifetime of living by the sea. My Cornish heritage and love of the land and sea has informed a practice of landscape and coastal paintings – generating work mainly on site. I also love painting interiors and still life, running Riviera still life workshops on the beach at Porhminster, St Ives in 2025 which has spurred me on to develop a longer course with this theme
My work is about time spent-from childhood – on the shallow shores of the Carrick roads and its soft estuaries as well as the deep, rolling tides and immense skies of our North Atlantic Coast.
I love the transience of time and weather. Revisiting spaces time and time over, but never quite seeing the same – a unique response in paint to how I see and feel on the day – the uniqueness of this response and this always being different.
Increasingly, I am also interested in the domestic places we inhabit and we journey from each day. The objects we collect and bring back and the views from these spaces to the sea. I think this is why Matisse’s interiors fascinate me. I love the way he uses colour, mark and pattern to describe a very personal response to a place – the use of line and pattern to describe a space in its simplest form and how his studios often give you an idea of where he was at that time.
I have a BA in Fine Art, MA in Illustration Authorial Practice and a PGCE in Art, all of which have enabled me to gain a range of understanding of material and approaches to creativity and how to facilitate this in others.
What our students say
It was great to learn how to start a painting, from standing at your favourite spot and starting sketching. There were so many tips to guide the painter. I particularly loved how Victoria teaches to build the layers of colours and make it exciting, explaining how to use mediums and other tips to create texture etc. Victoria is a great and generous teacher and I would love to attend her course in person one day.
What a great tutor! Victoria’s passion for her environment and her work was contagious, everything she did in the webinar – and she did a lot – was done with such enthusiasm; and even when she was talking us through quite basic things like colour mixing and sketching, she was so enthusiastic and empowering that it all felt really fresh and exciting. As Victoria shared her process the webinar just flowed so naturally and spontaneously, and it was so skillful that she could talk directly, answer questions, and while doing so produce really lovely work.
An action packed lesson, I learnt so much, itching to get outside and get painting!
A really enjoyable experience. Victoria Gillow is an outstanding and inspiring teacher.
It was my first time experiencing an online course and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Vicki was excellent at communicating what we were going to be doing, what equipment etc would be needed. I have watched the whole webinar several times now to get the most out of it and it’s a joy every time, Vicki is such an engaging and inspiring teacher, just wonderful to watch. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much! Great teaching in a really accessible way and a really affordable price.
Courses with Victoria Gillow
Coastal Senses - St Ives Bay
Online Pre-recorded - Acrylic - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a00Nz00000LaFXg
Active Instance: a02Nz00000DwIGeIAN, 11-Feb-2027
Local artist, Victoria Gillow, shares new ways of working to inspire your creative process and help you paint the places you love. Discover techniques to create vibrant and expressive paintings.
| £45 | Book |
Expressive Landscape Painting
Art Courses - Acrylic - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a00Nz000002D1Jr
Active Instance: a02Nz00000WTZWDIA5, 11-Sep-2026
Working both en plein air and in the studio create landscape paintings that are authentic, evocative and original, in the unique surrounds of the coast in St Ives.
| 11 - 13 Sep - 3 days - £445 | Full | Request |
Painting the Cornish Coast
Online Pre-recorded - Painting - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a00Nz00000R46VW
Active Instance: a02Nz00000JQUcGIAX, 30-Aug-2026
Paint the stunning Cornish Coast with expert guidance from three of our professional artists. Learn how to capture the essence of place, both in the landscape and back in the studio.
| £145 | Book |
Studio Still Life - Inspired by Matisse
Art Courses - Acrylic - Still Life
Active sort order:
Course ID: a00Nz00000kmSh4
Active Instance: a02Nz00000WTX6FIAX, 16-Oct-2026
A fun exploration into Matisse’s studio and interiors, the rooms, the windows – the gardens and sea beyond. This course is all about colour, pattern and line, explored in a playful and vibrant way.
| 16 - 18 Oct - 3 days - £455 | Book |
Well Grounded (rec)
Online Pre-recorded - Painting - Landscape
Active sort order:
Course ID: a00Nz0000064Utr
Active Instance: a02Nz000001yP1NIAU, 11-Feb-2027
Join practising artist, Victoria Gillow, in this playful exploration of building history and narratives into paintings, through the use of coloured grounds and under painting.
| £30 | Book |