Looking around my studio I sometimes wonder how I arrived at this point…. being a full time painter…… a romantic notion in itself !! Well I guess from being a small person the act of drawing was a way of escaping and that still holds true, I just do it now on a larger scale and with a paint brush. However the absolute answer is I just worked hard at something I love to do……often frustrating, nearly always all consuming….. but so satisfying and rewarding when it comes together.
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Painting is a very solitary activity and my paintings become a conversation with myself. So its no surprise to me that an odd figure, an upside down house, a strange dog or teapot appears in my work……its only a reflection of my thoughts and memories. From shelf stacker to postwoman, student to wife, mother to illustrator, lecturer and I could go on….. I have a wealth of experience, although not all artistic in themselves they all feed and seep into my paintings in one way or another. As well as a personal reflection I find that I also incorporate the narrative of others which I trip over either in person or through the media.
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I am a proud Scot but I now live and work a mile from the Devon coast at Bigbury, a great place to live. The studio is where I retreat to work…… though it is also somewhere I need to escape from, at times when things just don’t seem to be going the way I intend. So then the beach is where I head to…… walking and talking through my thoughts which tumble in my head not always about work but also about decisions of the day to day, which I need to resolve before I can paint. So living by the coast for the last two years hasn’t turned me into a seascape artist. Rather it has influenced elements, like colour and scale, but most importantly it has given me a place to clear my head and restore my thoughtsf both before and after painting.
Charlie O'Sullivan 