Art talk - Interview About my Art

This week i met with a current undergraduate student who had a few questions about my art. I thought i would post my answers on my blog for anyone interested in finding out some more info on my Art journey

Painiting in my Grandad's studio aged 9.

.How did you first get in to art?
I have been surrounded by art from a young age. My Grandfather is a working professional welsh landscape artist and has been a huge inspiration of mine. He has spent a lot of his art career teaching art classes, and I can remember tagging along to some when I was little. We have often gone out sketching the North Wales landscape together, and these young memories continue to feed into my work. During my teen years, I was living in Spain, surrounded by a wide variation of landscape, from the calmness of the sea to the great heights of the Alpujarran Mountains. My Spanish Art teacher was very encouraging, and pushed me to enjoy creating art, which then continued by my teachers back in the UK during my GCSE’s and A-levels.

Have you always worked with your current medium?
Painting hasn’t been something that I have always done. I used to do a lot of mixed media work, including wire sculptures of wildlife, and free hand embroidery of portraiture. Before my degree, I studied textiles at A-level, and enjoyed designing and making repeat patterns. Besides painting, I also spent a lot of time working in soft pastel, charcoal, pencil and biro creating commission portraits. 
Is there anything limiting about your medium?
Out of all the mediums I have explored, painting has continued to be something I come back to. It has a wide variety of ways it can be used, and I am continuing to explore its’ possibilities. What I enjoy most about paint is its’ versatility, compared to other mediums which require a lot more time and patience, and better still, if something doesn’t work in a painting, I can just paint over it. As of yet, I don’t feel paint is limiting for the kind of work I am producing.
Do you listen to anything while you work? (Music/Podcasts)
When I am painting in the studio creating more finished work, I always have music on and I find it very difficult to work without it. However, when painting on location I prefer to listen to the natural environment. For instance, when painting a seascape outdoors, I pay attention to the sounds of the waves crashing, people talking, cars passing, etc.. and try and feed this information in to the painting. I like to try and create a sense of place, rather than a pure representation of the subject, and sound is something that I feel helps add atmosphere and mood to the work.
What does art mean to you?
Although cliché, art is a huge part of my life.  Whether I’m looking at art in galleries or on social media, painting in the studio, or just walking to the shops, I experience art daily. What I enjoy most about art is how we get to see the world through the eyes of the artist. I love to see art that shows the beauty of the ugly, or something I see every day, but have never seen it in such way. It inspires me.
What are your plans for after your masters?
After my MA I plan on continuing painting and working as an artist. I hope to travel around the coast of the country creating a body of work. I still feel that the coast has a lot more exploration for me, and I am excited to see where it can lead my work.
Do you think it’s easier or more difficult to be an artist in modern times? Why?
Both. I feel that there is a lot of competition in the art world and it is difficult to know what to do to stand out from the crowd. However, since the rise of Instagram and other social media platforms, I think it is easier for artists to get their work out there.
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