Wilf Roberts was born in 1941 on the Isle of Anglesey. In his early years he was raised in the idyllic setting of Mynydd Bodafon, a setting to which he returned after thirteen years of working as a teacher of art in Croydon. During the 1960s and 70s in London, he exhibited extensively and successfully whilst studying part-time at Croydon Art College. In 1973, Roberts returned to Anglesey and continued to paint, accepting a number of private commissions and illustrating books and posters on a voluntary basis for a number of local and national charities. He did not publicly exhibit his work during this period until 1996 when he held a very successful solo show at Oriel Ynys Mon.
His inspiration comes from the stark and rocky landscape near his home. As a youngster he liked nothing better than to wander the naturally beautiful landscape which he represents in his work. In his landscapes he manages to simplify without losing the essence of the scenes depicted and produces work that is strong and powerful.
He paints in his studio at home, making use of on-site sketches and working drawings. His chosen media normally is oil paint (occasionally acrylic) applied freely with brush, palette knife or any implement close to hand! His style is one that depends largely on instinct and immediacy, all based upon his store of learnt skill and knowledge gleaned over many years of applying paint to canvas. He captures perfectly the brooding starkness and inherent tranquillity that are the features of his landscape.
His palette tends towards the more sombre end of the spectrum (browns, greens, greys, etc)..'earthy colours' to quote the artist… Wilf's controlled and selective employment of white, for example, on cottages and other rural buildings that frequently appear in his compositions, brings the paintings vividly to life with a drama and vibrancy that is quite startling and emotive. With this inspired ability of juxtaposing bright elements and highlights against dark and sombre backdrops, Wilf manages to attain faultless tonal balance and harmony. Coupled with his innate sense of composition and obvious love of his chosen subject, the end product results in highly dramatic landscapes that evince the natural beauty and atmosphere of each scene he portrays.
For the past several years Wilf Robert's work has followed a consistent subject matter and theme: the traditional farm houses and cottages of Anglesey, and in particular around the area of Bodafon, where his family have lived for generations.
The majority of his pictures are groups of buildings in landscapes devoid of people, animals or birds and yet, like the empty chapels found all over the island, they contain invisible memories of people from the past. To him some paintings are very much alive, some with memories of his grandmother who gave him his first box of paints. Another painting shows the house of a neighbour, a lone man who used to kneel on the earthen floor of his one-roomed cottage each Sunday and pray from dawn to dusk.These are affirmations of an invisible cultural connectedness with a people and place. He is unhappy with changes to buildings that challenge his perception of the island he loves and he will often paint out a new extension to a farm or the appearance of a new bungalow.
