Often artists are inspired by other painters and some actually emulate their style to great success.
Painting in an expressive untraditional manner, Claire Wiltsher describes her style as ‘Turner meets Pollock’ due to the play of light and the application of paint. Claire likes to drip paint as well as flick it with her fingers and brushes. “It is important to get most of the flicks of paint to fit naturally with the place or object I am trying to communicate,” she says. “Over the years my focus and style has changed. It is necessary to let changes happen, as long as it feels positive and works with your own ideas. My work focuses on energy and movement. It is my intention to show different weather conditions and dramatic changes in light, affecting the mood of the land and sea. Over time I think I have moved closer to expressing the character and atmosphere connected to a place and moment.”
Mike Hall believes his style is progressive and it is dangerous for an artist to become too set in their ways. “Painters do get stuck in styles and they don’t get anything out of it.” Now he has satisfied his curiosity concerning light he feels ready to move on. He has no objection to “stepping out of the light” in pursuit of a more decorative style.
Angela Findlay agrees that “some artists can get very stuck in and trapped by a style, in danger of becoming formulaic, of pandering to what sells, and adjusting the composition according to what the public seem to like best”. Rather than painting popular paintings to please the audience, she feels the need to be authentic and paint from her heart. This is the reason for her detachment from current trends and sales figures and her willingness to pursue new phases in her artwork. “I recognise myself as a traveller in my art rather than a settler, however painful the journey gets. Things change, we change, life changes, so why would I expect my style not to?”
IMAGE
Exposed (series) by Claire Wiltsher
