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Based in Cheltenham, Lorraine graduated with a BA in Fine Art Sculpture and Ceramics from Portsmouth before completing an MA in Art Education in Birmingham. After teaching Fine Art and ceramics in secondary schools for twenty years, she moved into adult education. Alongside painting in her studio and from life models, she runs a painting and drawing class for adults. Her distinctive oil and pastels are often painted in soft greys, blues and yellows with a strong architectural element. She says of her work:
“My paintings are a result of contemplations, observations and memories of my surrounding over a period of time. I often find my inspiration in mundane subject matter I see on a daily basis like the surface of a roof, a window catch or chimney. As I work on the image I allow subliminal images and narratives to surface. The paintings are rarely planned out in advance and are a result of my constant desire to challenge the realism in the images which evolve through a process of reworking, scraping and archaeological layering. Therefore I would describe my painting as neither abstract or representational but rather stories half told, feelings about human dilemmas and tensions hidden beneath the surfaces. The process of the painting often becoming the subject matter. The work is finished as soon as I reach a unified and harmonious result”.
Her recent series of paintings have been inspired by successive lockdowns. She says of them:
“We all had to find ways of coping with the isolation and fear of the unknown during the lockdowns. My safety valve was my painting. I made a conscious decision to use colours which have a calming effect on me.
The predominant colour in these painting is turquoise. This colour has calming qualities, the gem revered by the Egyptians for adornments considered to give health, good fortune and protection. It is also the colour of some oceans and buildings I have seen on my travels, places which cannot be visited again for a long time.
Not until the paintings were complete, did the narrative reveal itself. Fresh air being an essential requirement to dilute the virus inspired me to paint ‘Pavillion”, a structure that allows air to flow freely.
In all the paintings a lone isolate figure strays in; one appears to be attempting to climb from a reflective surface, an all to familiar theme where screen, zoom, skype and whatsapp have dominated recently.”
EXHIBITED
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, Open Exhibition
Affordable Art Fair Bristol
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