Rena Gardiner - capturing historic places in a distinctive style

Rena Gardiner was an artist and printmaker, best remembered for her guidebooks to historic places, buildings and the countryside which she wrote, illustrated and printed in her cottage in Dorset.

From the mid- 1950s through to the 1980s, Gardiner produced some of the most imaginative and lively lithographs and books. Initially her books were self-published, but then The National Trust commissioned her to produce guidebooks to some of their properties. This allowed her to become a full time illustrator and artist in later life. In the main her subject matter was topographical and she had an absorbing interest in architecture and, above all Dorset.

Rena Gardiner was born in 1929 in Epsom, Surrey. In 1946 she enrolled at nearby Kingston School of Art to study graphics. During her time there she discovered the works of Edmund Bawden, John Piper and Eric Ravilious - all renowned artists who practiced lithography. Bawden also created work in linocut, a medium in which Gardiner is now much admired too.

Gardiner then took a book illustration course, and found that could well be her forte. However, she decided not to risk trying to earn a living from illustration and became a teacher, working on book illustrations in her spare time. During her first job at Leamington College for Girls, she created her debut book, Royal Leamington Spa (1954), printing and binding all the copies herself.

Moving to Bournemouth School for Girls, she rented a cottage at Wareham, Dorset, and set up a basic printing press using an old mangle. On this she produced her first illustrated book on Dorset in 1960. Her technique meant that none of the limited edition of just 30 copies was identical.

A guide book to Corfe Castle came out in 1963. A copy was seen by a Canon of Salisbury Cathedral who proposed she illustrate a new guidebook for that building. She printed 3000 copies of this in 1964, which in turn led to a similar commission for St Georges Chapel Windsor in 1966. Further self-published books on other cathedrals and churches followed.

In 1965 she moved from Wareham to a thatched cottage at Tarrant Monkton, Dorset, where she remained for the rest of her life . Here she was able to install a much larger printing machine and produced three large format books about Dorset in 1968, 1969, and 1970, regarded as her finest works. These attracted the attention of the National Trust, who commissioned her to produce guide books to many of their properties in the West Country, and allowed her to finally become a full-time artist in her early forties.

Her reputation continues to grow, with several exhibitions in recent years, particularly at National Trust properties.