Bridget Bidwill graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts in 1977 and now lives in Blenhiem.

A devoted colourist - her fine use of colour is influenced by her years spent living in the Renaissance cities of Europe.

To take the simplest elements with a minimal palette and create a series of paintings is no easy task. It is one that has occupied Bridget Bidwill for the past few years, using her personal alphabet of shapes merged with hints of reality (vessels, leaves, and bottles) to create works of pictorial eloquence. As in the past, their reference to ‘still-life’ remains evident, even in the most abstract of her paintings. The division of the picture plane is evocative of interior elements such as tables, shelves and windows, while Bidwill's colour usage creates perspective and light. As a result, her works are consciously simplistic and possess a poetic resonance. Bidwill’s subtle tonality suggest atmosphere and space, enhanced by the depths of the pastel or transparency of the oil stick. The humble origins of her works have a shadowy likeness to the European tradition of modernism, yet they manage to retain a contemporary awareness.

Bridget Bidwill has exhibited throughout New Zealand and is held in many private and public collections.