Haidee-Jo Summers VPROI RSMA
Haidee-Jo is internationally known for painting gardens, landscapes and seascapes ‘en plein air’. She is the serving Vice President of the Royal Institute of Oil painters (VPROI) and an elected member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA). As well as a busy life painting, travelling, teaching and exhibiting, Haidee-Jo is an author of two books on oil painting, ‘Vibrant Oils’ and ‘Plein air painting in oils’ with a third ‘50 ways to break the rules of oil painting’ due to be published in 2026. She has been awarded many prizes for her work which features fresh and vibrant brushwork coupled with keen drawing and observational skills.
“My work is a celebration of light filled moments revealed in rich and vibrant oil paint using my personal visual language of fresh and direct brush marks. Painting en plein air is central to my practice but I am equally at home working from a figure model, still life or interior. I find beauty in the ordinary, mundane and intimate rather than the grand vista. Coastal locations, domestic interiors and gardens provide me with rich and endless subject material. My approach is one of simplicity and economy, striving to make every mark count in my earnest pursuance of capturing the poetry of a fleeting effect of light.”
Awards
- 2025 The Robert Abraham Memorial award for the best oil painting by a member, Royal Society of Marine Artists
- 2025 The Life of a Waterman Award at Plein Air Easton, Maryland USA
- 2024 The Le Clerk Fowle medal for an outstanding group of paintings at the Royal Institute of Oil painters exhibition
- 2024 The spirit of Rockport award at the Cape Ann Plein Air event, Massachusetts USA
- 2024 The Artists Choice Award at Forgotten Coast en plein air, Florida USA
- 2024 Finalist in the Almenara Art Award, Cordoba, Spain
- 2023 The Menena Joy Schwabe Award for an outstanding oil painter at the Royal Institute of Oil painters exhibition
- 2023 Bronze award at Art in the Open, Ireland’s plein air festival
- 2022 The Architecture Award at the Laguna Plein air invitational, California USA
- 2020 First place in the Oil painters of America wet paint competition international category
- 2019 Winner of the Dry Red Press Award at the Royal Institute of Oil painters exhibition
- 2019 Winner of the Great Art Award at The Artist exhibition
- 2018 The Dartington crystal chalice for services to the society at the Royal Institute of Oil painters
- 2017 Artists choice award at the Paradise Paint Out, Florida keys, USA
- 2016 Winner of the Mall Galleries Bookshop Greetings Card Award, Royal Society of Marine Artists
- 2016 Winner of the Great Art Award at The Artist exhibition
- 2015 Winner of the Great Art Award at The Artist exhibition
- 2014 First prize winner at the Paint Out Norwich invitational
- 2014 First prize at the Buxton Spa prize plein air competition
- 2014 The Artist purchase prize award selected by Ken Howard RA for The Artist magazine
- 2014 Pro Arte award at The Artist exhibition
- 2013 The Royal Talens prize at The Artist exhibition
- 2012 Winner of the Royal Institute of Oil painters portrait painting event
- 2012 The Pro Arte prize at The Artist exhibition
- 2012 Awarded ‘Artist of the Year 2012’ by the SAA, Society of All Artists
- 2006 Young Artist’s award finalist at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
- 2005 Young Artist’s award finalist at the Royal Institute of Oil painters
- 1998 Second prize in the Winsor & Newton Young Artists Award, Royal Institute of Oil Painters
- 1997 Third prize in the Winsor & Newton Young Artists Award at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters exhibition
- 1994 Winner of Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast portrait competition
