woRds : a picture paints a thousand
In my work, paintings, printings, collages & crafts, I explore the visual language of imagery often depicting relationships; personal, social and societal moods and influences, how they impact upon us. Inspiration for my work comes from all around me; conversations I overhear on busses to what's in the news and the feelings the weather brings. I begin a piece - a story - by collecting ideas and objects, experimenting with medium, colour and composition and by thinking about what I have to say, what I want to create or reiterate - for example saturation of light adds depth of mood or I'll create harmony by balancing my palette of colours - the story is a combination of how the mediums and imagery I use are interpreted by the reader/viewer making each art work an individual experience.
Pattern is important to me and as a graduate of Heriot Watt University (Textile Design, 1999) I’m very interested in surface texture. I enjoy working with oil and acrylics as I can use them thickly for their sculptural qualities or as thin as water for adding gentle hints of mood. I think of my collages and crafts as a collection of pictorial landscapes capturing the textures and images of what I see directly in front of me and others depicting a sense of what I have seen or felt. In my paintings and printings I am able to portray sentiment more fluidly. The paint or ink simply represents the image in my memory - emotions, the way things move me are often the main concept.
I know a piece is done when the hues, tones and mark making balance. It’s like finishing a book I get that satisfied feeling of reaching the conclusion.
Painting is an extension of my thought process... when I start a painting if I’m not filled with a sense of nervousness I know it’s not going to work. When my work is going well, I feel a sense of achievement. When I'm thinking things over I enjoy crafting; repeating processes and techniques like mark making, stitching, printing. I enjoy a mythological way of working which inspires abstract & organic thinking - all art I make is unique within itself. My art is a thought process.
(C) emmJames
Pattern is important to me and as a graduate of Heriot Watt University (Textile Design, 1999) I’m very interested in surface texture. I enjoy working with oil and acrylics as I can use them thickly for their sculptural qualities or as thin as water for adding gentle hints of mood. I think of my collages and crafts as a collection of pictorial landscapes capturing the textures and images of what I see directly in front of me and others depicting a sense of what I have seen or felt. In my paintings and printings I am able to portray sentiment more fluidly. The paint or ink simply represents the image in my memory - emotions, the way things move me are often the main concept.
I know a piece is done when the hues, tones and mark making balance. It’s like finishing a book I get that satisfied feeling of reaching the conclusion.
Painting is an extension of my thought process... when I start a painting if I’m not filled with a sense of nervousness I know it’s not going to work. When my work is going well, I feel a sense of achievement. When I'm thinking things over I enjoy crafting; repeating processes and techniques like mark making, stitching, printing. I enjoy a mythological way of working which inspires abstract & organic thinking - all art I make is unique within itself. My art is a thought process.
(C) emmJames