"The photograph, to me, is absolutely essential." Rachael begins, "It’s my starting point, but I also constantly refer to it throughout my painting process. It’s simply the method I have found to be the best for me."
We are gathered around a large table in the airy studio of Newlyn School of Art. A pot of fresh coffee is on the table, beside piles of found images and notebooks. Each participant has arrived with a selection of reference materials for what promises to be an exciting challenge: to look beyond typically picturesque landscapes, and to capture instead the mundane, unspoken beauty with a contemporary edge.
Rachael studied at Coventry and Chelsea School of Art, interested in Modernism and colour abstraction, focussing on composition and the formal elements in an image. Her shift towards landscape painting developed after moving to Lamorna, a place very popular with the original 19th and 20th century Newlyn artists.
"In Lamorna there is an eerie stillness and isolation," she says, "there is a darkness to the place. I was interested in its edges. I began to distil its sense of solitude and disquiet."
Rachael’s work brings out a grittier side of the landscape.
"I try to avoid all the gorgeousness of this place and instead look at its underbelly. I am intrigued by human-imposed influences, such as solitary buildings, street signs, roads or rail tracks. I like to explore how we affect our environment visually, and in the larger sense."
Travelling Home, Rachael Reeves
Among us there are practicing artists wanting to re-energise their work, as well as those with less experience wanting to experiment with new techniques. Within minutes we are at our easels, preparing coloured grounds on mount board for a series of small studies we’ll create using the images we have brought in with us as our guide.
Some of our group regularly work from found images, others feel constrained by working from a photograph. Rachael reminds us that the majority of contemporary painters work from a variety of source materials:
"The key," she reassures us, "is to make that image into your own unique piece of work."
Rachael helps us analyse how an image is constructed then encourages us to simplify certain elements before playing with tone and colour. Using masking tape we re-frame our source materials, or layer images to create something entirely new.
"I’d really like you to work instinctively," Rachael enthuses. "Feel your way in paint. Step out of your comfort zone. Take this opportunity to try something new."
By day two, our initial studies are being developed into larger pieces. We experiment with glazes over acrylic, and create intricate marks with oil paint. We take time for discussion about each other’s work, which is an invaluable and insightful exercise.
"Coming on an art course can feel quite exposing," Rachael starts, "but remember that we are not here to criticise. Others often see positive things in your work that you don’t. It is an opportunity to share ideas and encourage one another, particularly when you’re tackling unfamiliar processes."
By the end of the course, we have amassed a vibrant collection of artworks. Few, if any, are faithful reproductions of the original source images. All of us have been stretched creatively, and challenged in what we choose to focus on in our work. The overlooked and the mundane has become the hero, and an intriguing one at that.
It has been a stimulating and rewarding few days, and proved that there is value in creating contemporary artworks which reflect a more honest, less romantic view of the landscape around us today.
Click here to find out more about this course!
- Kari Herbert