artists statement

ARTISTS STATEMENT by Laura Strong (402296)

The need to paint and draw has been with me from a very early age and the need to create is more of a way of life to me than a pastime. It has however become an increasingly important aspect of my life as I have become older.
I am also very interested in photography, and I find that the combination of photography and painting often works well together. I use my camera as a tool to collect images as reference points for my paintings and by using my camera I can also experiment with unusual angles and close up abstractions. These can also be manipulated within photoshop, which can quite often further influence my painting. Because I use the viewpoint of a lens as a starting point, it is also the reason why I am keen not to produce a photographic reproduction, and in a painting I attempt to try and capture something beyond what the camera lens can capture, and my aim is to create my own personal response to the subject, to manipulate the colours and attempt to recreate a more fanciful composition. The photograph is only ever used as a starting point in a creative journey.
With this in mind I find I am often wavering between abstract qualities and the more representational elements in my paintings, and I find that I do like the freedom to be able to combine both in my work. My aim is often to create an abstract or dreamlike quality within my painting, and to explore the imagination and therefore push the idea of what is real and what is not real.
One of the artists that I feel has particularly influenced me is Marc Chagall. I find his work leaps across the boundaries of reality and the world of the imagination. His work has a poetic dreamlike feel to it and is often quite humorous and light hearted. His painting s often have a childlike quality to them, which is something that I find myself increasingly try to recapture.
As a child my paintings were often created with abandon. They were painted freely and there was no fear attached to them, they were painted or drawn because I loved doing it. As I have grown older, although I still love painting , I find myself attempting to free myself of the tightness that sometimes creeps into my work, and paint in a more loose and expressive style.


One of the most challenging things I find about painting is the need to create a work in my own distinct and personal way. There are many artists who I have found to be inspirational on my learning journey and there are many styles and techniques that have been useful lessons in helping me to find my own voice. I have found that the use of colour plays a major part in my work, with the work of Matisse, Franz Marc and Paul Klee being major influences in a lot of my work. I like to use colour with the aim of creating a strong visual impact, often building up areas with thin translucent washes. My use of colour is often strong and bold and I am not afraid to experiment with unusual colour combinations to create an impact if the subject calls for it. I am open to experiment and I often work on ideas using different media, including collage, without an end painting in mind, just to see how things turn out and just for the love of doing it. This for me, is an important process, as quite often it will lead to interesting techniques that can be used in future paintings.
In studying painting I am beginning to feel that the more I know, the more challenging a painting becomes. I see every new painting as a challenge, and a chance to try and tackle something new and experiment with different techniques. Each stage of a painting presents different challenges, and I can never be sure how a painting is going to develop and turn out. It is not unusual that as the painting evolves the original ideas may change, this is part of the creative process, and so although I try to plan in advance, quite often it doesn’t turn out quite the way that I first imagined.
The subjects that I am interested in painting are varied. I find exciting subjects in anything from landscapes to still life to more figurative art. But I find the underlying theme is to try and capture something that is beyond realism and sits in the realms of the imagination. At the moment I feel that my style is constantly evolving. At this moment in time I am becoming interested in exploring the mystical and more fantastical elements within the mundane. My aim is to try and produce something that is beautiful, even if the subject matter is not considered especially interesting or pleasant; I find it is exciting to apply vibrant colours and incorporate textures and /or collage to the image and to create something that is aesthetically pleasing even if the subject matter is not particularly beautiful.