The English Lakes

I indulged my love of the countryside by spending a week in the Lake District in August with family. 

Derwent Water

I've been inspired by landscape for as long as I can remember and my art practice has always involved landscape in one way or another. Being surrounded by such beauty for a week was obviously inspirational. The long walks cleared my mind, I always do my best thinking when I'm walking in the fresh air.

From Cat Bells

We walked miles. Up and over Cat Bells, up Helm Crag in the rain, to the top of Orrest Head overlooking Windermere. We saw Tarn Hows on a ten mile walk from Coniston and did a seven mile walk near Elterwater. The miles kept adding up and so did the sense of accomplishment. 

Near Elterwater

​I can understand why so many creatives spent so much of their time here, Beatrix Potter and William Wordsworth to name just two. 

Hundreds of photographs were taken, with every few paces there was a new perspective that I had to capture. Even with the DSLR around my neck I still made sure to breathe in the views without looking through the lens and to feel immersed in the natural wonder of the lakes. ​

Grasmere from Helm Crag

With each trip I gain new inspiration. Art and travel are my two biggest passions, I can't live without either and both feed in to each other. My art has evolved as a means of recording, of documenting. Someday soon I'll use these photographs as inspiration for something, I'm not quite sure what yet but the prospect excites and intrigues me. 

Time

It's been a little while since I've written anything, that's because I've felt like there hasn't been anything worthy of writing about. It's coming up to a year since I finished my MA at Winchester School of Art, in that time I've worked full time in an office, moved in and out of a studio, been a Signature Art Prize finalist and held my first solo exhibition. I have also been lucky enough to visit Amsterdam, Iceland and made several trips to Cornwall in the last year.  

I'm still making work however with only evenings and weekends spare I've not been as productive as I'd like to be. I'm too aware that time is so precious that it prevents me from being experimental and venturing outside my comfort zone because I'm too afraid of making bad work and then feeling like I wasted time.

I've continued to draw and have a project on the go which in a way documents the walks I've being doing in my home county of Hampshire. I've been following a walking guide, ticking one off every weekend or so. On each walk I photograph the journey, I'm then picking a photograph to draw from and I title the work with the walk title from the guide and the date the walk took place. 

Inspired by a walk in Cornwall, I have a separate project in mind which will bring together photography, drawing, painting and map cuts. Unfortunately a lack of confidence has meant that the project has gone on the back burner - as mentioned, I've been too afraid of getting it wrong or messing it up and making bad art. 

It's only when you're in the 'real world' (outside of university) that you realise how difficult it can be making art, time restraints, a job to pay the bills getting in the way and a lack of people around you to help guide your work and give you direction can make for a tough time creativly. 

But, I'll keep going, keep drawing, keep thinking, keep making because it's what I do and I can't be without it. 

Hartley Wintney and Elvetham - 14th June, 20.5cm x 20.5cm, pen on paper. 

Making A Mark

Making A Mark - my first solo exhibition of recent work at Proteus Creation Space in Basingstoke, Hampshire.  I decided to have an exhibition of my work at a local space for a number of reasons. One of them being to keep motivated since I finished my MA and went back to full time work. But also to develop my practice, experiment with painting and see my work outside the studio. 

Cornish Blossom, oil paint and charcoal on linen, 30cm x 30cm

I made eight paintings for the exhibition, four landscapes inspired by Australia and with influences from David Hockney and the Impressionists and four 'floral impressions' inspired by the artist Cy Twombly.  

Blue Landscape I, oil paint and charcoal on linen, 20cm x 40cm

Green Landscape II, oil paint and charcoal on linen, 20cm x 40cm

Alongside my paintings were a series of drawings. Two 'panoramic' landscapes and a series of six small drawings inspired by my WSA Window View drawings which I also displayed. The piece that I'd spent the majority of my time on before the exhibition was my biggest pen on paper drawing to date of a forest scene. 

Waterfall Way, pen on paper, 76cm x 57cm

The biggest challenge of the exhibition came from marketing and making sure that the exhibition was seen. I found that it was a struggle to find time to advertise the exhibition especially as I was still making work right up until the night before I hung the exhibition. 

Polperro Bluebells, oil paint and charcoal on linen, 30cm x 30cm

Overall the experience of making new work for an exhibition was challenging yet rewarding. It tested my patience, dedication and time management skills but I'm proud of the work that I managed to produce.