There’s No Place like Home

This last year has been a strange one for us all, but it’s important to remember there must always be an upside to the lows.

In 2020, I missed art school. I missed being surrounded with creative people in my studio. I missed learning and being inspired.

The upside of 2020? For the first time in my life, I decided to start online classes with the Royal Drawing school. This was also my first experience of Zoom and being able to connect with people from all over the world. One lady I met from Australia was waking up at 2 am to join the class, primarily so that she could enjoy some human interaction – something we all missed this year. Some students worked in their kitchen, some a bedroom. Occasionally dogs would bark or I would see a partner or child walk past in the background.

The classes helped me not to be so critical about my work. We didn’t have long to make each piece. Five minute life drawings, twenty minutes and then an hour or more to make a longer drawing. I began looking more, drawing more and experimenting with materials.

I am so grateful that I was in a position to take these classes during such an awful year. They were a really positive experience for me, I can’t wait to meet more people across the world and continue learning more.

I am very lucky in having people who will pose for my paintings and drawings. When I say this I am talking about my daughters who when asked will become a girl who is lost in a forest surrounded by imaginary wolves or a girl who is a raven.

Cinema poster for Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo and Juliet.

At the weekend my daughter Charlotte was going to the Secret Cinema event in London. Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic interpretation of Romeo and Juliet was being show. Everyone gets to dress up as characters from the film. It’s loud and exciting with bands playing, choirs sing and actors perform scenes from the film. Charlotte dressed as Juliet. She was clothed in white lace with beads and with her wings she looked stunning, so of course I took photos. Juliet is my next painting.

Oil pastel study for a painting

I am starting with some preliminary drawing. I want to keep the images free and impressionistic so I’m using oil pastels. The consistency of these pastels are so soft I can move the colour around the paper with my fingertips.

Artwork by Paula Rego.

I’ve also been looking at Paula Rego’s drawings of angels. Paula is an incredible storyteller. Her choice of colour and the way she sets up a scene is wonderful. She is a constant source of inspiration for me.

Artworks by Paula Rego.

For the last seven days I have been exhibiting at the Pond Gallery in Snape Maltings with a group of fellow artists from Waterfront Studios. It has been such a good week, people have been welcoming and their comments have been so positive about the artwork in the show.
The theme for the exhibition was womanhood – a subject matter that I am continually exploring in my own practice. During the week visitors chatted to me about what they saw in my paintings and how my work made them feel. It was so interesting to hear their thoughts about how they connected and felt an intimacy with the woman I paint. It’s always a big step putting my work out into the real world for everyone to see, but the exhibition was a fantastic experience and I’m really looking forward to returning to Snape next year to exhibit again.
Tomorrow I’m back in the studio.

Snape’s wonderful landscape

The Pond Gallery at Snape Maltings

‪Rabbit Girl clings to her mother. Emotions are intrinsically intertwined. Separation is unthinkable, unbearable. ‬
‪Every day Rabbit Girl is changing and growing emotionally and physically until the metamorphosis slows down and she has a family of her own.

Here are a few of my favourite things from the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition ?

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