Degree Project

Water has always been involved in my work somehow, whether it’s a painting inspired by ripples and reflections, or the use of water on the canvas to react with the paint.

I feel that one of the reasons I am drawn to water is that my star sign is Pisces, and I also think this is why I am drawn to the colour blue.

The colour blue has been constantly in my work for about 2 years now, it is a colour that can mean so many things at once and provoke lots of different emotions.
Pale blues can be tranquil and calm,
a strong ultramarine can mean power and strength,
and dark blues and navy’s, provoke a sense of sadness and mystery.

(Back to water now)

In my previous projects I have been inspired by only the surface of water, I.e. ripples, patterns and reflections. And the water I was looking at was puddles, lakes, and swimming pools for my collaboration project with Crown Pools (Ipswich).

This project had health and safety limitations where I was only allowed to use the surface pattern for studies and photographs, but in my other projects where I have had no limitations, I have still only concentrated on the water’s surface.

I also use water in the process of painting, I water paint down to provide fluidity and wet the canvas to allow the paint and ink to flow better. A wet canvas allows ink to bleed out and create beautiful lines and patterns.

So thinking about how to push my ideas further, I need to challenge myself. I decided that only looking at the surface of water was not enough. I want to push forward my ideas about the natural world and make paintings about the sea. I want to start looking much deeper and think about the sea’s mystery and power when making work.

My process for this project will stay on the same grounds but I will challenge myself more and be more experimental. I will be using A LOT more water in the process too. I also want to build up many layers in my paintings to give a sense of depth.

(And finally, back to blue)

I don’t want to completely move away from blue, as I feel it has an important role in my work. And though I do want to explore other colours, I will also be exploring the deeper mysterious qualities of blue.

Fiona Rae is one of the first artists that I came across when beginning my studies.

Her work is very colourful and intriguing. Explosions of paint obscure patterns and drips, whilst quirky characters hide amongst the beautifully chaotic scene.

I find her work extremely visually pleasing and it inspired me to experiment with drips and layering.

Images courtesy of : The Timothy Taylor Gallery

Previously, in my last year of college and my first year of Uni, my work involved themes on colour and texture.

I experimented with making detailed and intricate shapes and patterns with the medium. This worked particularly well with ink on wet paper. The ink would spread and bleed out making tiny shapes and lines.

Ink only produced flat images, but I felt a need to build more texture. I started using more mediums in with the paint and ink, like gels, pastes, and my favourites which were crackle paste and glass bead gel. Both enhanced the inks ability to travel through tiny spaces, creating visually pleasing results.

Further on in my degree I moved on to looking at nature, this was inspired by a photography lesson, where we went into town armed with a camera, but rather than taking photos of obvious surroundings, I was more interested in the cameras Macro function, which allowed me to take close up shots, bringing to light all these beautiful unnoticed textures of nature.

This idea also became present in my paintings, instead of works just of colour and texture, they now had a deeper meaning, involving personal ideas and feelings towards our natural surroundings, drawing attention to the unnoticed beauty of our world.

I work with a range of mediums, many of my paintings can contain 3 – 5 different substances. I mainly use acrylic paint and ink, but also gels and pastes, grounded up pastel (therefore a powder), watercolour, glitter, water, paper circles from hole punches and generally anything I have around me that I think will build up a fascinating texture.

My work is a constant experiment and I love being surprised by my paintings.