CK Wood’s glorious poppy paintings are well-loved at Art2Arts. Though she’s a professionally trained artist with bags of talent, CK worked various jobs as she made her way to becoming a full-time painter. Here she reveals all about her process, inspirations, and artistic journey.

What were your experiences like at Leeds and Stockport colleges of art?

My time at college was essential for me – giving me time to experiment with different techniques, subjects and mediums. Studying surface pattern rather than fine art was a good choice for me too, as I loved the idea of texture in art and the experimentation involved in creating new techniques.

How did your interest in painting develop?

From a young age I always enjoyed drawing and painting – and excelling in art at school made me realise I did have a talent and I was encouraged by school to take it further.

How did you become interested in florals?

At college really. Previously I had enjoyed mainly drawing landscape and animals – but at college I had more mediums at hand and would experiment with water colours, acrylics and oils. And flowers were always available for us to paint, and I found I had a flair to paint them and loved the vibrancy of their colours and form.

How do you choose your subjects?

Quite often, it is based on how I am feeling that day, from what I have experienced around me – the colours and flowers I have seen and the feelings stirred in me. I do like to spend time within the peacefulness of nature, in a quite garden full of flowers, rolling hillsides or just a peaceful meadow or lake – watching nature and tuning into the beauty of it all.

Could you describe the process you go through in imagining, planning, and creating a painting?

I have a feeling or mood that I want to put to canvas – If I plan or think too much about what I want to create, then I lose the feeling, so I just go with the flow of the feeling that I have at that time and the painting develops that way. Though I guess I must follow some process, they are subconscious.

What are your favourite types of paints to use?

I mainly use acrylics – but I do have other mediums at hand which I also use to create the effects I want. Acrylics can be quite flat, so mixing them with texture mediums or gloss mediums can add vibrancy and depth. Oils, which I sometimes work with are great at blending colours.

Who and what are your main inspirations?

I love the moods and the romance created by the Pre-Raphaelites and the Impressionists. Though my inspiration is the natural environment around me.

What other jobs have you had?

Before making a living as a full time artist, as a single mum I had to keep working whilst trying to establish myself as an artist. I have had many jobs, mainly administrative work, but also call centre, debt collection, warehouse work and cleaning.

Do you every get creative blocks, and if so, how do you deal with them?

Occasionally I do yes – I get days when I have no inspiration or desire to paint what so ever. I sit down to paint and I am just at a loss to were to start and my heart isn’t in it. I have found the only way to overcome this, is to have a break from it. Otherwise its futile trying. Thankfully the desire and inspiration always does come back. If it didn’t then I would have to stop.

What advice do you have to young artists just starting out?

I think the best advice would be to keep trying and to keep establishing your style, keep true to yourself and your work and don’t let any knock backs effect you too much. If you work hard enough and keep at it you will eventually succeed.

See more of CK Wood’s popular poppies at her Art2Arts profile page.

“Boring back views” – the scourge of the life drawing class – or are they? For anyone who’s not quite sure what I’m banging on about – in life drawing classes, everyone tends to crowd around the front of the model, so that they can get an obvious, portrait-esque, face view. I recently heard someone at a class complaining about  “boring back views”. But actually, back views can be enigmatic and very beautiful. Here are 5 of my favourites from art history.

1. Naked Man, Back View by Lucien Freud (1991-1992)

2. Seated Woman in Underwear, by Egon Schiele (1917)

3. Grand Odalisque, by Ingres(1814)

4. Rokeby Venus, by Velazquez(1647-51)

5. Not to be Reproduced, by Rene Magritte(1937)

See what I mean about back views? Now have a look at a couple great ones from the Art2Arts catalogue:

Red Hair by Carmen Tyrell

Sensual and hot blooded, there’s nothing boring about Carmen Tyrells’ back view.

Rebecca II, by Kris Hardy

Kris Hardy’s Rebecca has, as they say, “got back”.

Have a look at lots more back views, front views, top views, and even bottom views in the Art2Arts figurative section.

Julia Everett, August Artist of the Month, is a firm favourite with Art2Arts customers. Her abstract landscape paintings, with their song reference titles, easily evoke nostalgia and emotion. Academically trained, Julia knew she wanted to be an artist from a very young age. She’s kindly agreed to talk me through her process and inspirations.

What was your experience at art college in Brighton like?I was very lucky to study Fine Art in Brighton. It was an amazing place to be, not only for its fabulous seaside location, but also for the quality of the degree course. We were all given generous sized studios to paint in and our tutors were all professional artists. We also had famous artists such as Bridget Riley and Patrick Hughes visiting for guest lectures and tutorials. It taught me how to work independently as a painter as well as all the skills needed for integrating in the art world.

How did your interest in painting develop?

I’ve always wanted to paint. When I was a child my dream was to go to art school, mainly because I liked school and loved art! I grew up as an only child and spent a lot of time on my own drawing and painting and making things. I left school at 16 and went straight to the local art college, which enforced my belief that art was what I was meant to be doing. I suppose I was always the weird kid so I fitted in perfectly! From there I did a foundation art course and then a degree in fine art.

How do you maintain a connection with rural landscape while working from London?

I grew up in Wolverhampton, probably the least rural place in England! But I spent a lot of my childhood escaping to Wales and Shropshire and I love the contrast between the city and the countryside. For me West London is quite rural, there are lots of trees and parks and my studio on the Thames Path in Hammersmith has its own river terrace. When the doors of my studio are open I can see the river while I paint. I also love to travel and spend lots of time in Wiltshire and Cornwall. I paint from memory rather than real life so I draw upon my experiences of nature when I work.

Could you describe the process you go through in imagining, planning, and creating a painting?

Sometimes I have a fresh blank canvas in front of me and have no idea what will happen, often this is when I make my favourite paintings! Other times I have a place in mind and the colours I want to use ready to go and I start thinking where I’ve been and how it felt. Usually it’s somewhere by the sea and often at twilight or sunset. Then I start listening to something on my ipod, lately I’ve been enjoying my Neil Young back catalogue. Other painting favourites are John Martyn, Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake.

What are your favourite types of paints to use?

I love colour and mainly use oil paint in vivid colours on un-primed canvas. I dilute the paint with a glaze medium and linseed oil to improve the flow and I build up the picture in layers, letting it dry in between. I like the way the paint can soak into the canvas and often take a path of its own. I use sponges rather than brushes and blend the paint together. Sometimes I splash paint around to give a looser feel. Lately I have been adding a layer of fluorescent acrylic to intensify the colours in my recent series of abstract sunsets.

Who and what are your main inspirations?

I am inspired by the sea and the sky and light on water and the feeling of being in a wild landscape. I have been really into the horizon lately. The eulogy at a funeral I went to recently described the horizon as a metaphor for life and death and the uncertainty of the future. I particularly identified with this as it made sense of my obsession with horizons, especially the dark horizon on the sea at night with the magical feel of otherworldliness that it has.
I always listen to music when painting and feel that this has a strong influence on the finished work too.

What other jobs have you had?

As an avid music fan most of my other jobs have involved it in some way, I used to work in a record shop and then as a bookkeeper for a music shop. I’ve also worked for Illuminate Productions, a not for profit art organisation who stage art and music events in unusual locations. I worked for them on Drift and the Merge Festival.

Do you every get creative blocks, and if so, how do you deal with them?

When I find myself a bit stuck I think its best to take some time out, maybe travel somewhere inspiring or just have a break from painting. Usually it doesn’t take me long to want to get back to my studio. Another thing I find helpful is some random action painting to see what happens and where the mark making will take me. Its good fun to splash some colour around!

What advice do you have to young artists just starting out?

Raise your internet presence, do as much as you can to promote yourself online and connect with other artists.
Facebook and Twitter are great places to meet artists and to find out about art opportunities.

See more luscious landscapes at Julia’s Art2Arts page.

Allegedly it is actually summer at the moment. Whether you’re getting some sunshine or not, these summer-themed original paintings are sure to create a sunshiney mood in your home or office.

Nirvana by Simon Kenny
Reach a divine state with Simon Kenny’s Nirvana, which brings Turner’s seascapes to mind. Simon is a multi-award winning artist who aims to balance materialism and spiritualism through lyrical abstraction. He uses his artistic process to better understand his experience of the human condition and has sold to multiple public and private clients around the world.

Cresting by Denise Allen

Surf’s Up with Cresting by Denise Allen. Denise’s travels in Menorca and Bermuda have informed her fresh and inspiring seascapes. She teaches watercolour painting, including regular watercolour painting holidays in Menorca.

Langdale by Lita Narayan

Lita Narayan’s Langdale brings to mind the quiet of lazy summer days spent in the countryside. With its warm colour scheme and relaxed feel it’s the perfect choice for a living room or bedroom.

Sutton Church by Alice P Jenkins

Alice P Jenkins’ painting immediately evokes the English countryside. Fresh, bright colours and a whimsical style make this a good choice for a quirky contemporary interior, perhaps displayed in salon style with other works.  Alice loves to paint from life, en plein air.

Virginian by Irina Rumyantseva

Virginian by Irina Rumyantseva is a fabulously textured painting with strong colours that compliment each other beautifully. As a contemporary abstract painting, suggestive of landscape, it would work perfectly in a corporate interior or modern home. Irina says “When I paint I pour my emotions out onto the canvas and convey the beauty that I see in everyday life in a way that others can see it to.  When I finish a piece I am filled with a sense of accomplishment and integrity. ”

Graduate shows are *the* way to learn about the work of the latest up and coming artists and see original art by future stars. If you’re in London or Manchester, pop along to these shows by recent grads of Blackpool & The Fylde College BA Photography.

 

By Susie Brady

Illume:

Illume is an exhibition featuring the photography of this year’s graduates of Blackpool & The Fylde College. Over 40 students have been working hard to produce their very best work for the show. The students’ work covers many different genres of photography, so there will be something to interest every visitor. From experimental to documentary, Fashion to Fine Art, this work represents emerging photographers from the North West and should not be missed.

Hosted in the recently refurbished Hoxton Gallery in London over a week in June 2012, visitors can expect an exciting selection of photographs, presented in a wonderful location, and of course a warm welcome from the students.

‘Illume’
Hoxton Gallery, London
12-18 Hoxton Street
London
N1 6NG

June 26th – 29th
Tue-Thu 10-5, Fri 10-2.30
Industry Private Viewing on Tuesday 26th, 6-8pm.

Website: www.illu.me.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/219886648129853/

By Lynn Brown

Infectious

Infectious is a show highlighting the work of the graduates of the Creative Arts Department of Blackpool & The Fylde College. The students in the final year of BA(Hons) Photography have created their best work and are excited to present it at Cube Gallery.

Cube Gallery is in the centre of Manchester and is the perfect space for showcasing the work. Visitors can expect to see a selection of the best work of the emerging photographers of the North West.

‘Infectious’
Cube Gallery, Manchester
113-115 Portland Street
Manchester
M1 6DW

June 16th – 21st
Sat 12-5, Mon-Thu 12-5.30
Industry Private Viewing on Tuesday 19th, 6-8pm.

Website: www.infectious2012.co.uk/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/219886648129853/

 

Paula Oakley is Art2Arts’ May artist of the month, and with her work’s colour, vibrancy and wonderful mix of nostalgia and modern day culture, she’s one of our most popular artists. In  this interview she explains a little about her artistic inspirations and creative process.Penny – Did you go to art college? If so, where, and what was your experience like ? 
Paula- I attended art college for just a few months. Unfortunate family circumstances meant I was unable to continue. But saying that I don’t think I would have stayed, they wanted you to do things their way and seemed to have no interest in helping you to develop your own style.

How did your interest in painting develop?
For as long as I can remember drawing and painting have always been one of life’s pleasures. A means of relaxation.

I love your still life paintings of clothing and accessories. How did you develop this idea?
I have always thought of still life paintings as being be boring !  A bowl of tired fruit on a table or a vase of stiff looking flowers.
I wanted to challenge myself and take everyday objects and bring them to life, not just with colour but with light, shadow, texture, transparency and reflections. To look a little closer than usual and give a simple composition a ” story”, something that can be related to. Traditional themes with a contemporary  feel. When I finished “She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not” I was delighted to be bombarded by people wanting to know what happened next, did the relationship work out? It was a reaction I did not expect but it meant that I had achieved part of my challenge!

Could you describe the process you go through in imagining, planning, and creating a painting?
I don’t know how to describe the thought process that starts a painting. Sometimes it’s a colour, an emotion, a sentence, a view…… Usually the idea just comes into my head and then there is a “no rest” period until it has been created on canvas, it’s like a sugar rush but with paint!

What are your favourite types of paints to use?
I used to paint with watercolours then one day I was given a box of acrylics. Wow! Such colour and vibrancy! I have been hooked ever since. They can be harsh and awkward but once you get used to them they will do just what you want. I paint in thin layers and build up the depth of colour finishing off with the highlights that bring everything to life.

 

Who and what are your main inspirations?
Inspiration comes from life around me. We often take things we see every day for granted , rushing here and there we miss so much. Take a little longer to look and you will notice so much more.

What other jobs have you had?
Most of my working life has been in high street retail. Not exactly art-related but as a self promoting artist the experience within the area of sales, customer relations and a general understanding of business has definitely helped.

Do you every get creative blocks, and if so, how do you deal with them?
Luckily I don’t get creative blocks. I tend to have a constant list in my head of “things I want to paint”. Between each painting I try to ensure that I do something completely different for a couple of days, it gives the brain a rest and seems to free up even more ideas!

What advice do you have for young artists just starting out?
If I was to give advice it would be to stay true to what you enjoy painting, don’t paint to please others, paint what makes your heart sing, that is where you will develop your individual style. Don’t let negative comments hold you back. Everyone is different and you can’t please all the people all of the time.

See more of Paula’s evocative paintings at her Art2Arts page.

April artist of the month Stewart Wilson’spopular paintings feature a unique style. This is the result of applying the paint directly to the canvas with his fingers and a palette knife, rather than a brush. Here he tells me all about his career trajectory, from traveling businessman in marketing, to successful cityscape artist.

Penny:  Did you go to art college?
Stewart:  I didn’t go to art college although I was in those days, an A level art student who could have gone but my interest was in marketing and my dream was to train within an ad agency. My father was a talented fine artist and I was tutored by him from an early age but he never pressured me into an artistic career. He always advised me to make progress in my 20s and 30s via a commercial career and savour the art in later years – good advice

How did your interest in cityscapes and nightscapes develop?
During my business career I traveled extensively throughout the world inevitably staying in city centre hotels and often unfortunately on my own. For years I carried an old leather-bound sketch book and would stare outside the window and observe the human activity down in the streets. It was a surreal situation being in numerous strange towns watching the nightlife which always seemed more exciting than the hotel. I captured many streets in many cities and my many sketches are all set in evening light.  Even more surreal is that my studio is located in a 17^th Century building in the middle of the Derbyshire countryside and I have little ambition to paint rural scenes like my father.  (The city is so much more exciting )

Could you describe the process you go through in imagining, planning, and creating a painting?
A lot of my work is commissioned and for this I have to be truer to the subject so I work from client’s photos, or I take photos and sketches and discuss with the client. They are often corporate and working to a group brief so I have to gain an understanding of their expectations with great discipline.
As for my gallery work I seldom paint from life but prefer to enclose myself in my wonderful studio. When I have the freedom like this my best work arrives, listening as always to incredibly loud music and often working well into the night (with the company of a little red wine).
I have a process of a kind which normally starts from a very large file that I keep containing anything from old sketch observations, magazine cuttings or anything that inspires. I look through this all the time and usually end up dreaming constantly. It keeps me awake because I churn over the concept, angles and colours etc. At the start of the painting process my palette is decided and mixed ready and canvas placed. The concept is in my head and I play some appropriate music and stand terrified in front of the easel. I start to lay paint with my knives which has been thickened overnight (secret method) in a frenzied action and then after 10 minutes or so I calm down and work more controlled till lunch. (I always have sardines and salad plus 1 piece of bread.)
Following lunch I stare at the easel and convince myself that I have failed and dare myself to scrape it off. I eventually talk myself through the crisis and paint calmly ‘til about 6pm.
By this stage most of the canvas is filled with paint but not finished. I now know that I have about 2 days to do interesting tweaks during various stages of paint setting. (This is when the magic commences.)
At 6pm I climb out of my overalls clean up, pour red wine and sit back and observe the canvas. I still work on the canvas in a clean way sipping wine and winding down.
Although working on other paintings in various stages of completion I spend the next two days twitching and tweaking and aiming for perfection.

What are your favourite types of paints to use?
I paint only with knives and fingers and the important aspect to the paint is forming an impasto quality. I have no favourite brand but I do “doctor” it to my required consistency.

Who and what are your main inspirations?
If you look at Boulevard Montmartre at Night by Camille Pissarro it sums up my deep love for impressionism. But a more contemporary urban take on it.
I am not a pretentious painter and I love the attitude of David Hockney. With his brave northern grit he seems to mock those precious arty types.

What other jobs have you had?
Up until the age of 52 I progressed up the greasy pole of corporate life. Most of my career was spent within high-end fashion brands. I worked as a director of design and brand management for several international companies and was based in several worldwide locations.

Do you every get creative blocks, and if so, how do you deal with them?
Not very often. Painting is about observing life and I have an interesting life.  I have several professional artist friends but of course they are no damned help as they usually have their own “blockages” to contend with.

What advice do you have to young artists just starting out?
It’s a shame that hundreds of young artist go through the college system and most of them end up working in a supermarket.
Making a living out of painting isn’t easy. Maybe we don’t tell them that they will have to be self employed as there are no apprenticeships or youth training schemes that I know of.

As well as being an artist they will have to be a:

Photographer

Graphic Designer

Web designer

Sales Person

Book Keeper

Secretary

Packer and Shipper

Van Driver

And the list goes on

I sincerely do feel for most of these young people who expect to make a living once leaving college but their future in pure arts is doubtful in the short term. So my advice is indeed get a job in ASDA but maybe for only 3 days a week and spend the rest of your time building up your brand and your business. Spend at least a year refining a really unique look and stick to it because this will become your USP and your Brand.

And then the fun part – get a really big folio case and cold call the galleries – character building stuff!

 See more of Stewart’s colourful and energetic work at his Art2Arts page. 

It’s finally here, woohoo! To celebrate the glorious spring weather, here are my top picks from the spring-themed paintings at Art2Arts.Prelude to Spring by Maureen Greenwood.

Making great use of impasto and and texture, Prelude to Spring also bursts with colour and exciting composition. It’s guaranteed to make any home or corporate interior spring into life (sorry).

Narcissus 1 by Diana Anderson

Russian-born Diana Anderson quotes Henry Ward Beecher in saying that “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” With Narcissus 1, she’s literally brought nature into the picture, and this energetic, bold floral is ideal for the contemporary home interior, or home office.

Freston Woods by Marc Bedingfield

You can’t be blue with bluebells on the way, and this fine art photographic print by Marc Bedingfield captures the spring light perfectly. The closeups in the foreground could make you feel like you’re really there- beautiful stuff.

Calla Lily by Victoria Stothard

Fans of Georgia O’Keefe will appreciate Victoria Stothard’s bold single lily arrangement. Prolific artist Victoria has created and sold over 2000 works, and despite her success, her works remain affordable as she believes art should be accessible to everyone.

Clarity Landscape by CK Wood.

CK Wood’s poppy and landscape paintings sell all over the world, to collectors in countries including Singapore, the US, and Spain. She finds inspiration in the natural beauty of her surrounding landscape, and we can see how spring colours and freshness have influenced Clarity Landscape.