Artist Interview: Lucy Springall

I'm a curious type; I like to know what informs an artist. Who or what do they look to for inspiration? How do they work? Each month I will be asking an artist I admire a few questions, this month is Lucy Springall.

Bird of Paradise by Lucy Springall

Lucy, I became familiar with your work very recently. Your bright paintings and collages of deconstructed pool scenes were what first drew my eye. What inspired these vibrant pieces?

Until recently I lived 5 minutes from Brockwell Lido in South East London and found that going there always gave me an enormous sense of wellbeing. Being by the poolside reminds me of childhood summer visits to Finchley Lido (no longer in existence) and the escapism of holidays to sunny destinations. I think UK outdoor pools and lidos are really special places and really wanted to try and do some work inspired by them. I didn't want to just paint them as they were but rather try and capture the different common elements you find at the pool. I was also admiring a lot of work with strong graphic design elements at the time so I tried to use this to arrange the various imagery. As well as taking photographs and drawing on location I also researched well-known artists that had used the swimming pool as a muse for their work. Hockney is an obvious inspiration but I particularly took inspiration from Claes Oldenburg's Pool Shapes (1964) and the simplicity of his design. 

Bunting by Lucy Springall

Rubber Ring by Lucy Springall

Until last year your practice explored physical and mental health themes, I'm curious to know what your art practice involved and what caused you to change direction?

Yes thats right. It was and still is a theme close to my heart and I hope to eventually incorporate some of these elements into my more recent work. I guess, looking back, I've struggled with my mental health since I was a teenager. My way of dealing with it was to run from it and to work harder and faster in order to chase an elusive 'happiness'. It caught up with me in early 2010 in the form of a physical burnout and then again in 2013 as a period of extreme anxiety and depression. What surprised me was how physical the illness was, it was like my fight or flight response was switched on all the time for 6 months! When I recovered and returned to full time work I felt passionate about reducing the stigma of mental illness and also raising the awareness of just how much of a physical illness it is. I started doing art again at about the same time and undertook a 2 year part time fine art course at City Lit, the second year of which is developing your own personal project. I started to look at 'self-comforting repetitive behaviours' that we all use, such a foot tapping, pacing etc. through performative mark-making. My tutor encouraged me to go bigger and really exaggerate these behaviours so I got a life model in who luckily happened to be an artist and dancer herself and directed her to produce a series of large scale artworks whilst I videoed and photographed her. It was a really fun and freeing process and not one I'd ever thought I'd do! I really wanted to be a painter though so I tried to take the process back into more of a formal painting which was my final piece for the course. Around the same time as the course ended I was offered voluntary redundancy at work. I could see that the office was going to close and I really wanted to have more time for my art so I took the leap. I continued for a while along a similar theme with my art and looked at doing an MA but decided that as it was so early on in my art journey I wanted some time to explore other themes and experiment with other ways of working. That's when I started the swimming pool inspired work. It was tough as I had a clear why and message behind my previous work but sometimes you just have to follow your instincts. I'm now working on more botanical inspired pieces and I've found doing them so relaxing that I've realised the mental health theme carries through. This is something I'm really keen to explore with my work in the future - the relationship between nature, greenery and mental health.

Lament 4 by Lucy Springall

Lament 3 by Lucy Springall

Do you have a preferred method of creating work or is experimentation key to your practice?

It's so early on in my art career that I've yet to settle into a preferred method of working. At the moment my way of working depends very much on the project I'm working on. I do tend to 'projectise' my work as I think its important to explore one subject or methodology for a significant chunk of time before moving on to another. Although it's important to allow time for play too, especially if you're feeling a bit stuck or have lost the joy in what you are doing. With my current work I'm enjoying the contrast between quieter calmer watercolour painting where I sit down to create, often with a cup of tea and a podcast playing, and more vigorous acrylic and oil painting which I do standing up or on the floor in quite a physical way. When I start a project I often, but not always, research other artists and do a lot of sketchbook work to feel out the idea. I've just started a one year (one day a week) advanced painting course and really hope that this will push my acrylic and oil painting to another level.

Recent Botanical Inspired Work by Lucy Springall

Recent Botanical Inspired Work by Lucy Springall

Tell me about your studio or creative space.

I am lucky that I have my own studio space in Lewisham, SE London. It's within the Bow Arts run Leegate House studios and is part of the Leegate Centre in Lee Green that has been earmarked for demolition and redevelopment. As it's a temporary let the studios are relatively affordable compared to other studios across London. The old building does mean that the heating and ventilation is often a bit wild! I'm on the 7th floor and so have great views across SE London. I only moved in towards the end of last year and have been steadily making it feel like home. I got a plan chest from a friend of a friend which needed quite a lot of TLC so I took some time to restore it. I also have a steadily growing collection of plants that I use for inspiration. My studio is either super tidy or totally chaotic depending on where I am with a project! We have a shared kitchen where I make endless cups of tea which often go cold whilst I'm working. It's nice to be able to speak to the other artists in the studio and the Leegate community of small businesses are also really lovely.

Plantation Palm by Lucy Springall

Plantation Palm by Lucy Springall

What artists (living or dead) inspire you?

This is a tough one as so many different artists inspire me! Currently I'm inspired by the lush greenery paintings of Hurvin Anderson who uses both the Caribbean jungle and UK parks as source material. Jonas Wood is another one, particularly his large scale potted plant paintings - the plants have so much character! I also follow a lot of early career artists on Instagram - Tamara Dubnyckyi has a great sense of composition and space and Lucy Smallbone uses such luminescent colour combinations and mark making.

I love learning random facts about people, tell me three things about yourself.

1. I previously worked as a Lead Exploration Geoscientist within the oil industry

2. My husband and I love to wild camp and we spent New Year 2017 halfway up a fell in a cave - it was freezing!!!

3. I'm a total water baby and will swim pretty much anywhere. I once swam(ish) in a Greenlandic Fjord where there were icebergs in the distance! 

Finally, where can people follow your work online?

My most recent work can be seen on Instagram @LucySpringallStudio. My website (in need of a little updating) is www.lucyspringall.com. I sell my work online via Etsy. I am also sporadically on Twitter @lucyspringallstudio 

Thank you to Lucy for agreeing to be part of my interview series. It’s fascinating to learn how an artist is inspired and how one project leads in to another. I’m also quite jealous of Lucy’s studio situation, I really miss the community of artists I had around me in a shared studio. Please take a look at Lucy’s Etsy store as she has many affordable original paintings for sale.

If you'd like to take part in my artist interviews series then please do get in touch at claireleanneleach@gmail.com. 

If you enjoyed reading then please click the heart at the bottom, share or better still leave me a comment, I love reading them. ❤️

Artist Interview: Cally Conway

I'm a curious type; I like to know what informs an artist. Who or what do they look to for inspiration? How do they work? Each month I will be asking an artist I admire a few questions, this month is Cally Conway.

Callieach Bheara Print By Cally Conway

Cally, many of your prints are made using a linocut process, what is it about this process that you love?

With linocuts, I love how egalitarian they are. You don’t need fancy equipment or a big studio, you can get hold of fairly cheap tools and just carve away, and then print it all by hand with the back of a spoon if you want! That’s how I started. I also love the physical process of carving an image, I find it really meditative. 

The intricacy of your prints is staggering, how long does it take to go from an idea to a finished print?

Sometimes it can take me an age from starting an image to finishing. It really does depend on what I’m doing, the size of it, intricacy etc. And the fact that I teach means I can’t work on a piece continually every day. It can be anything from a few days to weeks or months even. I seem to need to do a lot of thinking at every stage too. I’ve realised recently just how I work, and I reckon I’m quite slow...! 

Nature and folklore are your biggest sources of inspiration, what is it about recording nature that appeals to you and how do you use folklore in your work?

For me, nature is not only beautiful and essential, but it continually inspires and sustains me. Being in nature makes me feel that everything is alright with the world, even if it’s not. And I think too many of us have lost touch with that. So I like to try and capture its beauty if I can, and maybe distill some of that. With my interest in folklore, sometimes it’s not that obvious, but I love finding out stories and meanings associated with plants or animals. When I’m creating a print I will research any folklore associated with what I want to include so that there might be a connection between the different elements. 

Fallow Deer Print By Cally Conway

Hare Print By Cally Conway

Fox Print By Cally Conway

Mouse Print By Cally Conway

You are based in London and yet your work is mostly nature inspired, where do you go to source inspiration for a new piece or series of work?

Ah yes, living in London you could say it would be hard to find any aspect of nature to work from, but in truth there’s actually lots in London if you know where to find it! I spend most of my time at Kew Gardens and Hampstead Heath. I’m lucky enough to live really near Hampstead Heath and just a short train ride from Kew. Since becoming a member of Kew Gardens a few years back I can honestly say it feels like a second home. 

Tell me about your studio or creative space.

My ‘studio’ is actually a small rectangular space off my front room, where I’ve managed to fit a work table, inking table, and printing press. No idea how I managed to squash it all in. I’d love to have more space but it just about works as a mini studio. It has a large window great for light, and for watching the local foxes and birds. And it also has the added bonus of being the place my cat races in from outside- usually with muddy paws and straight onto any print I’ve left laying around!  

Wildflowers by Cally Conway

Welsh Poppies by Cally Conway

What artists (living or dead) inspire you?

There are tons of artists I admire so I’ll mention some of my long time favourites: I’m fascinated by Louise Bourgeois’ work, I began experimenting with printmaking after discovering her work at art college. Marthe Armitage creates the most wonderful linocut repeat prints for wallpaper and Agnes Miller Parker is a long time favourite for her exquisite wood engravings. 

I love learning random facts about people, tell me three things about yourself.

• I’m a bit small, probably 5ft (I never measure myself, maybe I should?) every item of clothing is always too long...!
•  My cat Arwen is named after the beautiful elf in The Lord of the Rings, her middle name is Monkey (do other people give their cats middle names?!)
• I’m a proper insomniac which is really frustrating. Once I read an Alan Moore biography (called ‘Storyteller’) in two weeks just in the hours I couldn’t sleep. It became my ‘not sleeping’ book (great book if you love the writer Alan Moore!).

Finally, where can people follow your work online?

I have a website; callyconwayprints.com (which I must get better at updating) to view my prints. 
@callyconwayprints on Instagram
@callyconway on Twitter
@callyconwayprints on Facebook
And my prints are for sale on: Made By Hand Online and Folksy

Thank you to Cally for taking part in my artist interview series. I just love Cally's intricately detailed prints of botanicals and find her animal pieces enchanting. To purchase a print from Cally please take a look at her store on Folksy and Made By Hand Online and be sure to follow her creative endeavours on social media using the links above. 

If you'd like to take part in my artist interviews series then please do get in touch at claireleanneleach@gmail.com. 

If you enjoyed reading then please click the heart at the bottom, share or better still leave me a comment, I love reading them. ❤️

Artist Interview: Kathy Hutton

I'm a curious type; I like to know what informs an artist. Who or what do they look to for inspiration? How do they work? Each month I will be asking an artist I admire a few questions, this month is Kathy Hutton.

Stacking Bowls Print by Kathy Hutton Using Silkscreen, Block Print, Jelly Print & Monoprinting Techniques

Kathy, I've been following your work for some years now, you seem to be able to turn your hand to so many printmaking techniques with beautiful results. What method of printmaking is your favourite and why?

I love to use different printing techniques depending on the feel that I want to achieve and I often end up using multiple techniques in one print, however if I had to choose my absolute favourite technique it would be the mono-printed line (sometimes called a mono-trace).

It’s due to this technique that I feel happy drawing and have a confidence in my lines. It sounds strange but it’s both unforgiving and forgiving at the same time! I’m drawing directly into the black ink so there is nowhere to hide, you can’t erase the marks once made so you just have to be brave. With a pencil on paper I dither, I use far too many lines and they have no confidence. But with this technique I’m forced to choose a line and go with it! It sounds terrifying but actually I find it completely freeing.

At the same time, the paper is also picking up little accidental marks and smudges from the ink, these add character to the drawing in a way that cannot be controlled. These little quirks are part of the forgiving nature and are what makes each and every drawing unique.

It’s also a completely instant technique, which can’t be said for many printing techniques that often involve preparation in different stages. With a mono print as you are drawing, you are creating the print there and then; for someone like me who is a little impatient, this is a real treat! As I’m drawing I’m concentrating only on the item I’m drawing and so in that moment I feel very connected. Linking eye and hand with a pencil and a bit of ink!

Sweet Pea Print by Kathy Hutton Using Monotype

Sweet Pea Print by Kathy Hutton Using Monotype

Nature appears to be your biggest source of inspiration, what is it about recording nature that appeals to you?

I’ve become fascinated by the natural things growing around my home, in the fields and lanes beyond our garden. The more I look, the more I see. It’s become a bit of an obsession and through it I’ve become much more aware of the changing seasons and their effects. I’m especially interested in the everyday; fallen leaves, seed heads and berries.

I thought that in the midst of winter I would struggle to find inspiration, but actually I find these quieter months are full of fallen treasure ready to be pocketed and brought home to be studied further. In the summer when there is so much competing, I have to work harder to be still and for my eye to notice the little things I seek.

The beauty of nature is that it’s constantly changing so if you keep looking you will always find something of inspiration and you never have to travel far.

Legume 1 Hand Drawn Monotype Print by Kathy Hutton

You are based in Wiltshire, does the area local to you influence your work at all?

I love living in Wiltshire with its proximity to open countryside and urban cultural areas (which I’m aware I’m not making the most of at the moment with my youngest daughter still being so young). I’m very lucky to live nearby to our National Arboretum which is a constant source of inspiration and great for getting the children involved in finding treasures.

However as I tend to draw inspiration from the little details rather than the overall landscape, I’m happy exploring fields, mountains and coastline wherever I find myself. My children sometimes get impatient with me when we're off exploring and have been known to shout ‘stop looking at nature’ if I dally behind too long!


Tell me about your studio or creative space.

I’m very lucky to have a studio space at home. It’s fairly large and has big windows on 3 sides so it feels light and airy. It used to have pink carpet, pink rag-rolled walls with pink satin curtains but thankfully now it has a simple painted concrete floor and white walls that are perfect for hanging prints on or just taping up any works in progress. I don’t have any big printing equipment, just a couple of big reclaimed work tables that can be moved around depending on what I’m using them for, allowing me to change the space for workshops or open studios as and when I need to. The space kind of evolves as I go along. I’d love to have a drying rack so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for one as currently I need every bit of table top and floor space I can get to lay out prints between their different drying stages.

Large Stacking Bowl Prints by Kathy Hutton

You run printmaking workshops from your beautiful home studio, is teaching your craft to others important to you?

I love teaching my workshops. I have such a passion for printing that it’s great to share this with others. One of my favourite things is to watch their reaction as they peel back their prints and see them for the first time, it really is a special moment. I love being able to show someone a technique that they can carry on at home. And I’m constantly learning; everyone that comes in my studio brings another view point, another experience, a question that gets me thinking. When you work on your own a lot, this interaction with others is invaluable. At the end of a workshop I will always come away with fresh ideas.


What artists (living or dead) inspire you?

From a very young age the simple pared back line work of Dick Bruna made a big impact on me, he was a master of perfecting the minimal line. Growing up we had some Mid-Winter pottery at home which I always loved and later on I became more aware of my love of ceramics, both their shapes and surface patterns.  I’m especially drawn to the designs created by Jessie Tate and Terrance Conran and the textile designs of Lucienne Day, simplified motifs, use of repeating lines and scratchy marks. I also have a huge love of the open, negative space and simple form found in William Scott’s work. Last year I discovered the beautiful paintings of Rachel Nicolson, her pared down still life’s featuring favourite ceramic pieces are beautiful.
 

Blue Stripe Bowl Print by Kathy Hutton Using Screen-print and Mono-print Techniques

Bowl Study Print by Kathy Hutton Using Screen-print and Mono-print Techniques

I love learning random facts about people, tell me something about yourself.

When I first moved from London to Wiltshire, a scary 16 years ago now, I enrolled on an evening class to learn quilt-making, anyone who has seen me at a sewing machine will think this a very unsuitable art-form for me! However, I think I’m drawn to the bold blocks of colour and simple compositions especially when applied in a less rigid format. If you’re familiar with the incredible work produced by the quilters of Gee’s Bend, you will know what I mean.

You never know, one of these day I might actually finish a quilt of my own!


Finally, where can people follow your work online?

Kathy Hutton Prints on Etsy
www.kathyhutton.com
@kathyhuttonprints on Instagram
@hutton1kathy on Twitter
Kathy Hutton Prints on Facebook
kathyhutton1 on Pinterest


Thank you to Kathy for taking part in my artist interview series. I adore Kathy's use of line and am highly envious of her beautiful studio. Kathy sells her work on her Etsy store and teaches workshops at her studio. Please click the following links to learn more: Kathy Hutton Online Shop / Kathy Hutton Print Workshops.

If you'd like to take part in my artist interviews series then please do get in touch at claireleanneleach@gmail.com. 

If you enjoyed reading then please click the heart at the bottom, share or better still leave me a comment, I love reading them. ❤️