Colourful Village 3

I am a self-taught painter who works in the folk art/naïve tradition. I paint fishing harbours, boats and beaches in Devon and Cornwall.

 

I spend a lot of time visiting hard-to-reach parts of the area for a weekly travel blog. Whilst travelling, I take many photos and start to make sketches. However, in the tradition of folk art, when I plan a composition, I freely play around with colour and perspective.

 

In some ways my paintings look like the places which inspire them, but in many ways they don't. My aim is to make something happy but wistful. I embrace joy but avoid anything too twee.

I start with the black ink outlines, which cannot be changed or erased. In this way my first marks create the whole composition.  I take this risk purposely because it creates an odd tension between formality and freedom.  I think that there are no mistakes. Whatever happens is meant to be.

I work as a listener, and emotional health specialist in secondary schools.

 

Acrylic on Card

27x22cm

Framed