Artist's StatementFor me the pleasure and privilege of becoming an artist lies in the opportunity and freedom for childlike play. Making art feels like a very immediate way to connect with my environment, encouraging me to pay attention and notice the details. It is a grounding process which enables and enhances my intention to live my life consciously as I make the shift from my career as a psychotherapist into my “Act Three”*. Embracing playful experimentation and giving myself sufficient space in my life allows me to notice and catch hold of opportunities for creativity. Photography has become a way for me to get close to the natural world and has surprised me with gifts hidden in plain sight, it allows me to find the sublime in the subliminal. As an optimist, I seek confirmation that all is well with the world - spending time with my pond or in the mountains indulges my optimism and provides an escape from the certain knowledge that all is not well with the world. It is this conflict which appears to emerge again and again in the work I am producing.
I find energy and excitement through experimentation of media and method, the immediacy and physicality of blending oil pastels with my fingers or a sponge on paper, on primed or unprimed canvas, and, the performance of soaking huge sheets of canvas in water and using the gesture of my whole body - perhaps to Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds - to throw or dab or sweep on the paint and the ink until the surface is covered and feels as though there is nowhere else to go. Taking inspiration from my photographs and the digital manipulation of these, my process tends to be intuitive rather than planned, each piece and process being a springboard for the next. Oil pastels have become my medium of choice and whilst these are traditionally considered a dry medium, I consider the pieces I create to be paintings.
In June this year I will have completed a 2 year Foundation in Fine Art with Art Academy London.

*Reith, A. (2020). ACT 3 : the art of growing older. S.L.: Unbound.

Art StyleAbstract, Expressionistic

Art SubjectsLandscape

Art Materialspastels, paper