About Challoner
Challoner Spokes is a painter based in Oxfordshire, whose vibrant, expressive work explores colour, line and shape through a representational lens unconstrained by realism.
Working primarily in oil paint, acrylics and oil pastels, she is drawn to the rich texture and bold, punchy colour these mediums create. Her paintings are inspired by nature, memory, relationships, horticulture and the beauty of everyday objects, with storytelling and folk traditions also informing her practice.
Challoner’s process often begins outdoors with observational sketches made on walks, which later evolve into larger studio paintings. Rather than relying heavily on photographs, she embraces interpretation and misremembered details, allowing emotion and atmosphere to shape the final work.
Using layered, broken brushstrokes and strong contrasts, she creates dynamic compositions where line interrupts colour to define form and movement.
Influenced by Fauvism, colour theory and artists including Georges Braque, Suzanne Valadon, Paul Cézanne and Natalia Goncharova, Challoner’s work celebrates boldness, intuition and personal response. Alongside her studio practice, she has over a decade of experience in creative education, delivering drawing and painting courses for adult learners.
Her original paintings and fine art prints are held in private collections across the UK, the Netherlands and the USA.