I was sixteen years old when I met Daphne Cousins. She was one of my teachers on a regional art diploma course. The first year of the course focused on a foundation in materials and methods, and the programme itself was based on the Bauhaus model. One of Daphne’s key teaching roles was bringing the colour theory of Johannes Itten to life for us. Her teaching was technically precise, clear in direction, and passionately engaged with colour as a subject.
After I had left college and was studying printmaking at university, I received an invitation to an exhibition of her paintings. The works on display were a response to the music of Bartók and the emotions it evoked, expressed through hand-painted lines of exquisite colour. It was beautiful work.
Daphne taught me to understand the importance of an education shaped by deep technical knowledge, precision in the use of processes, and a love of the subject. These qualities made her an inspirational teacher. Her paintings are a tribute to her understanding of colour and to the possibilities of paint in responding to music through abstract art.
I am no longer an artist, but my love of colour has never dimmed, nor has my understanding of what good teaching can be. Daphne Cousins sowed the seeds of both in my life. Now, as a professor in my sixties, the seeds she sowed are still flourishing.