Hi, I’m known as ‘Tanks’, a childhood nickname from my dad as cantankerous little girl!
This is my first Artweeks having lived in Didcot all my life but now enjoying term times at Fine Arts University Bournemouth, I am lucky enough to have two studios throughout the year to work in, my uni studio and my home studio. I will be exhibiting a variety of recentt Uni and previous works. Current work is based on boxing, why boxing you may ask? What draws me to paint it?
Initially when watching the power of the UFC spectacle, it was the whole arena image, which led to the fact that people have fought throughout history but now there is only a time and place for this behaviour under instruction and sportsmanship, with others watching eg. scenes including the crowds, excitement of the lighting, boxing very small in the centre. This led to focus on human connections between fighters, ref and crowd, the portrayal of victory, defeat, muscles, movement, onlookers, timeless images in the style and composition of George Bellows, with elements of Francis Bacon, Chiam Soutine and contemporary artists in the mix. The focus is sometimes on one event or victory, other times it is the action. More recently it’s become more about the loser, fallen in defeat. I am currently experimenting with adding textures into oil paint and creating blurring and movement, bigger brushes and more contrast, working on different coloured backgrounds and colour combinations to explore lighting. I love to study old masters such as Caravaggio for lighting and composition, and use my love of life drawing to explore perspective, often visiting the Oxford Ashmolean or Russell Cotes Museum in Bournemouth to sketch from paintings or sculptures.
I seem to have 3 recurring subjects that I like to return to, exploring each in a different light each time and pushing myself further.
Firstly boxers, I have already touched on above and my current source of excitement for painting. I work from videos and footage sent by my friends so they are personal and current too. Where I am going next with it? To maybe expand into historical boxing events? Scenes from the Boxers perspective?
Secondly, churches and gravestones have always been a great source of inspiration, I am not religious but respect that a lot of people are and the value of these buildings to so many. I love the non-religious perception of the architecture and windows of the building and the fact that they have survived years and visited by millions. The interiors have experienced so many different events and overheard so much, baptisms, funerals, weddings and confessions, if walls could talk! Graveyards too have their stories, the way the gravestones are being entwined back into the plants around just like the bodies that were given back to nature and the fact that so many people have lived their entire life, these places have been very special to anonymous people for centuries. Ruined churches or derelict buildings are linked to this subject.
Thirdly my fascination with high viz and construction workers. Last year comments from TiKTok followers led to my first one-man exhibition as a result of a series of paintings I was secretly painting in my studio in Didcot opposite the temporary base set up by a construction company outside my house. I adored the muck on their trousers, how they worked anonymously echoing images of Millet and Van Gogh sowers. They way they rested on their tools or their stature as they worked. I also enjoy painting the machinery too like big metal dinosaurs. It was fantastic to have an exhibition as a result of this and for the workers to put names to faces for me, although there was something equally exciting about them not knowing. I am sure I will return to this subject again taking it to a new level at uni. I had previously been told off on Art Foundation for staring out of the window in lectures, but I was watching the construction workers like little orange insects building a new block.
My TikTok and Instagram videos show how happy I am when painting, dancing around and listening to music, with dogs randomly coming to see what I am doing, or friends at uni popping in. The studio atmosphere is a big part of my enjoyment of painting. Where possible I like to paint large but space restraint means this isn’t always possible. I love the quick energetic 2-5 minute poses in life drawing, capturing what you want to say in an instant. My paintings too are often created really fast.
I am lucky enough to be able to join in Artweeks and also have the experience of a fine art degree surrounded by fellow artists and tutors, any questions people ask about my work all help to decide where I’m going next with it. There will also be a selection of life drawings and sketchbooks to look at, plus plenty of older canvases/boards ranging from dogs, self-portraits in lockdown, oil painting of sunsets, painting by candle-light, life-paintings, shoes etc. All part of the fun journey or art that’s led me to where I am now.
I hope to be painting throughout the exhibition so can try to answer any questions or if you are thinking about Foundation or an Art Degree I may be able to help.
atsigned.tanks