Artminx Abstract Art

I was born in Hong Kong and have lived in Cyprus, Nottingham, Tewkesbury, Loughborough and Matlock, finally settling in Derbyshire, a most beautiful and picturesque part of the country.

Both my parents are keen artists and thus as a child I always had plenty of materials to hand and was encouraged to draw and paint.

In my earlier years I spent some creatively frustrated years at an academically focused school, later going on to study photography at college. It was here that I developed a keen eye for geometric and naturally occurring shapes, but found printing only in black and white too constricting.

I have had many jobs in creative industry including graphic design, PR, marketing, advertising and working for a magazine where I did everything from writing articles to designing advertisements. During this time a very good friend advised me to let my creativity out and encouraged me to start painting again. This led to many private commissions and I was approached by several businesses who wanted original paintings for their offices, clubs and wine bars. It was also at this time that I won a place in an Arts Festival exhibition.

My whole family is very artistic and creative, from oils and watercolours through to sculpture and modelling and they have provided firm support and encouragement for the development of my paintings.

Being able to express what I see in the form of painting is a truly valuable form of therapy for me. Many of my paintings will come from an emotion that I have been experiencing - be it euphoria, sadness or anger. I can be moved deeply by music and always have it playing very loud when I paint. Sometimes I pick music to suit my mood; sometimes the music can influence it. Melodic, repetitive music will often inspire an abstract, as I feel it tickling my very soul. Sometimes I will even listen to a tune over and over again, for several hours at a time, and not tire of it.

I am also very interested in shapes or patterns of nature. A school of fish, a flock of birds, a ploughed field, the weave of a fabric or the flickering flames of a fire may be the source of my inspiration. Colours too provide me with ideas from the true vibrant contrasting colours of traffic lights to the blue hues of a cornflower or a multi-coloured sky.

In my mind’s eye I am constantly framing scenes as I go about my day to day life. Not just obvious clichés (like sunsets!); it could a row of pylons on a stark landscape or books stacked on a shelf, or even the edge of the shelf butting up to a piece of ornate coving! This habit was formed in the days when I studied photography and has been very useful in helping me to visualise what I would like to capture on canvas.

Admiring other artists’ work can be another great source of inspiration, picking out details and trying to visualise what they were hoping to portray can generate its own ideas.

Every new painting that I do often creates its own new set of inspirations and can lead to a series or a theme of paintings, each one a further expression of the original idea.

I always know what I am going to paint when I start a canvas, whether it’s a painting with form or an abstract. I only sketch out first in light pencil strokes if I am going to be painting something specific. Abstract work requires a looser approach and often the paints will merge together in pleasing, colourful and unexpected blends.

I am quite strict with myself and if I find that I am wanting to take the painting in a different direction I will stop and write down my ideas to take on to the next canvas before continuing with the original idea.

If I use reference I will work with it in front of me to constantly remind me of the colour or shape I am trying to achieve. A painting may often have as many as 20 items of reference. I use photographs, doodles, colour swatches and/or sketches, and if I am trying to portray an emotion or visualisation I will write a word out in an appropriate style. For example ‘anger’ would have a large spiky font with an exclamation mark, but ‘beauty’ would be flowing and neat. You might say they are sending me a subliminal message while I paint.

Most of my paintings are about colour or form. I like to use a lot of paint in bold brush strokes. Often the brush strokes themselves will be an integral part of the painting adding texture. To achieve different effects I use various sizes of brushes from the finest right up to large decorating brushes! The larger the canvas, the better the effect with a wide brush. I also produce work with just palette knives and no brushes. This is a very effective way to get a lot of paint (and therefore texture) on to a canvas. A knife will blend the paint in an entirely different way to a brush and allows theme to be carried unbroken around a canvas.

I like to work quickly and use oils as I feel their depth of colour and texture best captures the essence of what I am trying to produce.

I am not, and never have been an early riser, so when my partner John rises at about 7.30am he will often leave me to snooze so I can come round gradually - otherwise a bad mood will prevail!

I always start the day with a mug of hot water, then fuss and feed Toffee our tortoiseshell cat. I have recently bought a Victorian house, which needs a great deal of improvement, so I will either do some DIY or settle down to paint.

I do not impose rigid hours for painting as I find I cannot be inside for a long stretch of time if it is a beautiful day outside. I am more of a night owl and will often paint into the early hours. I like working by myself and work more productively without interruptions.

I like to experience many things and fortunately John too is very outgoing and will encourage me to take a break if I need one. I am always happy when the evening ends with a night out or dinner with friends.