WAYNE TOMLINSON

 

WAYNE TOMLINSON

Painter- specialising in watercolour, acrylic and mixed medias

Cannock Forest Scape

Where did you study/ graduate?
 

Wayne graduated as a teacher and only recently became able to turn his hobby into a full time career. After a long career in education, as a teacher, lecturer, manager and of late an education advisor, as well as a much enjoyed time as a retained firefighter, I have realised my lifelong ambition of becoming a full time painter.

How would you define yourself as a painter? 

I work in watercolour, acrylics and my favourite favourite…mixed media, using paint, plaster, found objects and lots of energy! I like to work on big canvases.

Which other painters or artists inspire you or do you admire?

Edward Hopper, an American painter who creates seascapes

David Hockney, Degas and 20th century artists include John Napp'fisher a painter form Pembrokeshire and John Piper

How did you find out about opportunities like the Staffordshire Artist Cooperative?

He came across it quite by accident but had been visiting a number of local galleries, as he was wanting to display his work. He visited the village of Eccleshall and got chatting to Cathy Sumner in Gallery at 12, who metioned they were looking for more members. He pooped in a few weeks later to drop off some paintings for the group to view and decide whether theyd like Wayne to join..things just developed  from there...

What motivates you to produce your paintings?

Wild places inspire me, especially the sea when it crashes into the land. When buildings and ancient structures meet the landscape in dramatic settings, that’s where I am really inspired.

Lighthouses are a particular passion of mine. They stand majestically and with real purpose, often in a dramatic setting.

I spend as much time near or on the sea as I can. Pembrokeshire, Cornwall and Yorkshire are favourite places.

Do your paintings have a signature style?

Some paintings posess a relief effect using mixed media and bits collected from the locations he visits, however he is trying to change his style and move away from the more representitive pieces and focus on abstract seascape scenes. His seascapes have a certain energy to them...

 

When visiting the sea, I try to collect interesting small objects, such as drift wood, glass and stones to enhance my larger pieces of work. I also collect containers of sand to embed, or add texture to my seascapes

 

Pentre Ifan, Mixed Media             Lighthouse at Caldey

http://www.waynetomlinson.co.uk/

KIM ROBINSON

KIM ROBINSON 
Wildlife artist/illustrator living and working in Staffordshire, recently started her  business in September 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When did you first become interested in this field of study?

I have always wanted a career involving art and had always liked the idea of working for myself. It was whilst studying my Foundation Degree in Illustration that I decided I wanted to work for myself as an artist, instead of becoming a freelance illustrator or working for someone else. I also explored the idea of becoming a Natural History illustrator but soon realised it was not the type of work I
wanted to do.

Began with artwork printed onto greetings cards but now has an extensive product range...

Where did you study/ graduate?

I studied at Stafford College for two years and graduated in 2010 with a Foundation Degree in Creative & Cultural Industries: Illustration. I then continued to study for a further year with Staffordshire University to gain my BA Hons Degree in Entrepreneurship for the Creative and Cultural Industries.

How would you define yourself as an artist?

I am a wildlife artist/illustrator and work in a loose style using pen & ink with watercolour.

Which other practitioners/ artists inspire you or do you admire?

There are many artists whom I admire but there are a few in particular who have inspired the way in which I now work.

John Busby – I love his sketchbook work and the way he manages to capture his subject with just a few lines, sometimes in fleeting moments. It’s this that I try to capture in my work - a sense of the moment.

Madeleine Floyd - I was taken with her work the moment I first saw it,  particularly her technique of using loose ink lines with washes of watercolour to represent her subject without painting every detail. I gave this method of working a try at University and instantly knew it was right for me and what I wanted to create in my work.

Sheila Gill – I shadowed Sheila during one of her workshops (for one of my modules at University) and was so inspired I booked myself onto one immediately after. The way Shelia uses and sees colour in her artworks is wonderful and enabled me to become freer with my use of colour and not to be restricted or exact, as is the style of my artwork.

What range of products do you sell?

I currently have a range of greetings cards and giftware, all of which are printed in my studio in Stoke-on-Trent. My giftware range consists of: aprons, tea towels, cushion covers, shopper bags and shoulder bags, all of which are printed using a heat press. I also sell mounted giclée prints of my artworks.

 

 

 

 

 

How do you promote your business? Is there any technique you’ve found works well?

I have found Twitter to be my best marketing tool and many opportunities have arisen through it, such as an article written in Staffs Newsletter, a commission and my work featured and sold through ‘Make the Most Of UK’, a website supporting artisans & their work.

What is the process you take to create your work?

I start by taking photographs whenever or wherever I can and have built up a good reference bank of images. I then use my photographs to sketch my chosen subject and once happy, I outline with a dipping pen and fixed ink. When dry I start adding watercolour. Although my work looks loose and done in just a few minutes, I do take time to build layers of colour.

JENNIFER COLLIER

She is a local textile artists that focuses on creating work from paper. She is based in Stafford, West Midlands.

Statement

"My practice focuses on creating work from paper; by bonding, waxing, trapping and stitching I produce unusual paper ‘fabrics’, which are used to explore the ‘remaking’ of household objects. The papers are treated as if cloth, with the main technique employed being stitch; a contemporary twist on traditional textiles. The papers themselves serve as both the inspiration and the media for my work, with the narrative of the books and papers suggesting the forms. I tend to find items then investigate a way in which they can be reused and transformed; giving new life to things that would otherwise go unloved or be thrown away."

MICHELLE RHEESTON-HUMPHREYS

A practicing visual artist, researcher, art lecturer and co-founder of (h)edge kelektiv, working with katrinka Wilson (Visual Artist and Researcher). She works on a number of projects, residencies and commissions.
Research Interests: liminality or in-betweeness, non-space/place, the material and indexical handmade, paradoxical realism, illusionistic images and objects, site-specific installation and intervention, notions of magic, wonder, narrative and performativity.

JACKIE MOCK

New York based artist who specialises in Reliquarium Art 

Some Secrets Should Stay Secret, 2010

Found bottle on wooden stand containing instructions on how to build a ship in a bottle

Winning Bingo, Losing Bingo, 2011

Two matching frames containing one single winning bingo card and a large uncounted quantity of losing bingo cards, each with a hand stamped metal plate.

The Entire Life of This Pen, 2011

ballpoint pen and paper in a handmade frame constructed of antique wood and glass

source

What is more important to you, the subject of the work or the way it is executed?

This is a really interesting question, I could probably rant about it for an eternity. I'm interpreting it to mean the dichotomy between my ideas and my craft. 

In my work, I'm very concerned with the execution (construction of the shadowboxes, the mounting, materials, etc) because I constantly find myself giving weight and importance or celebrating and drawing attention to some fairly diminutive objects and ideas. A solid and thoughtful construction and execution lead the admirer to want to spend time with the artwork. I did struggle and toil with woodworking and a poor shop and little knowledge of tools, it took some time (and some neighbors in Manhattan that hated me for running a table saw in my living room) for me to really get it down, and become confident and quick in executing my artwork that it has allowed my ideas to flourish. I enjoy working quickly and I have a hard time leaving things unfinished at the end of the day, but the hardest part for me is to learn patience and skill within my craft, to really refine my craftsmanship. I'm lucky that I haven't had a very long stretch of a lack of ideas (I know at some point it will happen) But, to conclude... the conceptual aspect of my work is the most important to me, but the execution is what makes it worth looking at.