Statement
Painting for me is a love affair. I am profoundly passionate about it; it grips my heart tightly and I yearn for it when I am away. I am both a dreamer and a believer. I feel things with a burning intensity and my canvas provides a container for these huge emotions.
My work is largely inspired by the gentle hills and the singing rainbows of tumbling flora abundant in the hedgerows around my studio which is deeply nestled in the folds of Devon. It is also influenced by walking in wild places and a constant curiousity of the world.
Seduced by color I perceive the world accordingly. My palette is blazing, lyrical and soft by turns, with hot, vibrant and cooler hues inspired by the many journeys I have made. Images are mirrors of internal and external paths I have carved in my life. I almost always work outside so howling gales and gentle breezes have as much influence on my painting as lacy ice and scorching sunshine. The weather, in a very immediate way, directs the end result of the image. I throw, rub, dribble and pour oils onto linen canvas before using sponges, rags, palette knives, brushes and my fingers to create finer details. My paintings are a dance.
I work very intuitively and instinctively, creating a space in which I allow the image to evolve and unravel. I enter the realm of the unknown and the marks becomes a following rather than a conscious choice. My paintings demand that I am courageous and openhearted and the process always involves risk. I surrender to the canvas and the image that emerges comes secondary to the actual process of art making. In this sense my work is my spirtual practice. My intention is that the images will awaken something beneath the surface that we recognise but cannot name. A deeper, secret place where mystery lies.
I am fascinated by chaos and order existing simultaneously and the easy harmony that occurs in the natural world between these two forces. Also the relationship between fragility and strength. My canvas becomes a visual response to these elemental energies and polarities discovered within the environment and myself. My work is a celebration of the joy and ultimate purity of the human spirit and embraces all that is magical: the unseen is as relevant as the seen in the finished piece.
My most recent pieces are sourced from close examination of Dartmoor and the exploding kaleidoscopic wild flowers,meadows and woodlands on the edges of ancient paths, walkways and lanes in the surrounding area. The images I create embrace wildness, innocence and a deep connnection to the earth.
Biography
Yvonne has lived a colourful and textured life and this is reflected in her paintings. Through her work she embraces poetry of structure to support the poetry that is inherent in her subject.
She was brought up on a farm and spent a large portion of her childhood in the Emerald Isle, her mothers homeland. She was greatly influenced by the simplicity and beauty that was woven into the land there, and shaped by the gentle passion that ran through the people and culture. Surrounded by music and magic she developed a love of life early on.
Inspired by the world and all it contained, Yvonne travelled widely in her twenties with a thirst for exploration and discovery. She spent time living and working in the Middle East, Australia, Africa and Europe. One of her most formative journeys was spent with a horse-drawn community in England, discovering ancient, sacred and forgotten parts of our land.
Her spirit of curiosity and deep enquiry led her to pursue a degree in philosophy and literature at Brighton University. Yvonne's creative life continued with the birth of her daughter Poppy and a formal fine art training in Sussex. Recently she has relocated to the south west and now works full time as a professional artist.