How an artists style evolves
I thought you may find it interesting to know how my artist’s style evolved over many years…
After I left Salisbury College of Art (Graphic Design), my influences were Matisse, Klee, Collier Campbell textiles and Keith Haring to name a few.
I loved colourful bold and graphic artwork and remember, this was before computers so our resources were minimal- museums, the art gallery postcard section or books.
But we had time. We wandered around sketching, pavement drawing for money, being moved by art and spent hours drawing in sketchbooks while at home or abroad.
When I think back to that era (1983-1986) we were time rich, had no responsibilities or pulls on our day to day life. We were free and compared ourselves to no one.
I spent time travelling around Europe, picking grapes and tomatoes and logging everything in a painted journal.
I used to frequent Camden market and one day met some Zimbabwean shoemakers ( Like you do..) and started work the very next day decorating shoes!
Cue colourful years that were spent selling at markets and festivals across Europe and I learnt a lot from those crazy cats. Apart from selling, my main job was to spray paint leather and then paint them with fish, birds, giraffes and palm trees using Liquitex acrylic.
My unique style started to emerge and I was given free reign to express my ideas.
After developing my own business printing t-shirts, I continued to paint shoes up until the late 90's as ‘piece work’ which I could do in my sleep, virtually.
I painted and printed big white T Shirt’s with bold graphic designs of animals and palm trees and VW Beetles! I’m not sure where the inspiration came from- cartoons, graffiti or a blend of all the artists I loved.
Every artist gets inspired or influenced by something or someone and creatively ‘borrows’ elements that they make their own. Is any art truly original?
Over time these small elements take you down different artistic paths which gently shape a style along the way.
The more I travelled, the more ideas and influences I collected- African fabric, cacti and Native American art in New Mexico, indiginous pottery; Frescoes in Italy.
Design, pattern and colour were stored away, sometimes in a journal or my head.
My art started to become consistant and recognizable. Sometimes it is the choice of palette that holds everything together even when you are experimenting with new techniques and ideas.
My style has changed/evolved many times over 40 years but I have been told it still looks like I painted it! Such a great thing to hear because we artists can become plagued with uncertainty, especially when changing direction.
Next destination? New Zealand and Australia in the 90’s…what an influence that was! But that’s for next time…
