Research Project

Throughout this project I have tried to recreate the idea of a personal ‘sense of place’. For me this is Cornwall. As I live by the sea in Cornwall it was best for me to consider working with that idea in mind. I started looking at harbours and then moved onto to coastal landscape views. After this I explored the idea of beach sports, in particular surfing because as a child I spent much of my time learning how to do this popular sport. I have been trying to capture the movement of the surfer and the waves. In order to do this I brought in the concept of mixing paint with sand sourced from the beach in question. That I believe gives a sense of depth and motion, along with a physical element of the beach.

Julian Beesley who captures landscape views of Cornwall where land meets sea.  He manages to create captivating images with watercolour because they show ‘natural simplicity and surprising versatility’. This is reflected in my work with proof of me experimenting with watercolours.

Other artist I have looked at is Paul Williams. I looked at his work because he uses an unusual technique that involves sketching with inks and charcoal and finishing off with thin layers of oil paints. Although I have not used this specific technique in my work, it influenced me to use the idea of a build of materials.

I also used ideas from the artist Steve Slimm because he inspired me with his words ‘what is art anyway? Giving form to that creative urge which constantly seeks expression and painting is one of several ways it emerges. For me painting involves shoving it around or letting it flow until it pleases me’. This has enthused me because I feel a similar thing for art. He mainly uses oil and acrylic which creates a more abstract concept which in turn showed me a different take on how to capture landscapes.