Thanks to my busy rewarding day job, I don't have much spare time, so I usually work on art series. A series is a set of paintings based on an idea which I developed for a period of time, complete and move on to the next one. I structure all my artwork like this so I can keep focus and usually the inspiration hits me like lightning... I end up being consumed by an exciting series which I can share with you.
Faceted Fauna celebrated the complexities and facets of nature. During this series I incorporated mosaic backgrounds. Having visited Barcelona shortly before the pandemic I was inspired by Gaudi, but I've always had an interest in the mosaic style and stained glass. I think that the fact that mosaics make something beautiful out of something that's broken is poetic. It's something that we need to remember when we look at ourselves... just because you've been through a lot doesn't mean your life can't be beautiful. As the series continued, these mosaics made me think about the fragility of the natural world and how we need to protect it, but also the complexity of nature, which we are piecing together through science, my other passion, and there's still so much to discover.
If you read my “About me” page you'll know that I took a break from art after A level so I used watercolour pencils in this series to gently reintroduce myself back into art. I really enjoyed adding the vibrant colours in large sections with the pencils and then adding water to bring them to life.
I created over 100 pieces for this series during lockdown. Inspiration hit and I found myself creating many pieces over short space of time, it gave me certainty in a very surreal year we went through.
I was consumed by the incredible variety of nature, from birds to reptiles, to incredible underwater species, but also because I couldn't stop drawing amazing wildlife.
For the mosaics in the background I really let my mind unwind, which added to the irregularity and randomness of these 2D mosaics. The smoothness of the watercolour pencils in contrast with the vibrant and vivid mosaics using biro and coloured pens, often under-represented in the art world, was a perfect combination..
I was so pleased with the results I developed a lot of these pieces into products such as: vegan suede cushion covers, tea towels, cards and prints. The pieces celebrate colour detail and texture and I really think that they pop in any setting. You can explore some of the pieces from faceted fauna in my Art gallery or by following the hash tag #facetedfauna on Instagram or Facebook. If you're interested in purchasing one of these products explore my “Where to buy” tab
