Welsh Art: Shani Rhys James

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Born in Melbourne, Australia to a Welsh father and Australian mother in 1953, Shani Rhys James has lived and painted in rural mid Wales for many years. She draws on her childhood and delves uncompromisingly into her own psyche. Boldly using nature's warning colours of red, black and yellow (sometimes in very large paintings), her work appears too dark, disturbing and ugly for some tastes, but as one of the most distinctive artists in Britain she also has a strong following.