BFAP Magazine 2023 - Flipbook - Page 28
Who are your artistic influences?
I would say my first love of art
came from my mum’s love of art.
At home we have a bookshelf filled
with my mum’s art books. The ones
I remember the most are the ones on
the Pre-Raphaelite art movement,
especially documenting the likes of
John Everett Millais. I loved the way
the artists at that time captured the
figure, how much detail was in the
hair and features. It inspired me to
want to make portraits. More recently
I have found love in the work of
Lucian Freud. I went to the recent
exhibition of his in London, called
New Perspectives, and LOVED it.
I even got the audio part to listen to
as I went around all the paintings. It
was very good, and I found it very
inspirational.
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Mollsby
2023
Oil on canvas
100 x 80 cm
What advice would you give to your
first-year self?
It’s ironic because I’ve spent pretty
much my whole of time at university
not really enjoying it and thinking
maybe it’s not the right thing for me,
and now, nearly at the end of third
year, I’ve finally realised how much
I love it and how much I don’t want
it to end. I feel like I need another
year at least. If I could go back, part
of me would want to have started the
following year because I feel like
our year got really short-changed,
especially in first year with all the
covid stuff. BUT then I wouldn’t
have met all the people that I have
who have really made my time so
far in Brighton amazing. I would say
make the most of the studios, because
it’s only recently that I’ve really come
to appreciate the luxury of having a
studio in central Brighton. Also, that
not every painting has to be ‘perfect’,
it’s alright to experiment and for it
not to work. This is something I’m
still trying to learn.
If you could go back to an art era
or movement, what would it be and
why?
I would go to Italy and work
alongside the Old Masters, learning
the true craft of painting. We would
spend all day painting and all live in a
modest castle in the countryside with
a huge, beautiful garden filled with
flowers. Leonardo Di Vinci would
be there teaching us about anatomy
and philosophy whilst testing his
inventions. Michelangelo would also
be there, and you’d better believe the
ceilings in our castle would make the
Sistine Chapel pale in comparison.
If you could own one artwork, what
would it be?
How do you keep motivated?
Knight of the flowers (Le Chevalier
aux Fleurs) by Georges Rochegrosse.
I love everything about it, the
composition, the colours, the
technique and skill. I admire it
firstly for its technical ability,
how beautifully painted it is. I’m
especially drawn to how Rochegrosse
has painted the knights armour and
the reflection on the chest. When
looking at it I really feel as though
I can feel the balmy warmth of that
day, smell the wildflowers, feel the
light breeze in my hair. I could look
at it for hours, it’s like a dream.
BFAP
I genuinely love painting and find
so much peace and stillness when
I’m painting and listening to an
audio book or music. I find that it
really grounds me and makes me
feel content and happy. Obviously,
I would love to be mega rich from
my art and I think if I was selling my
work for vast amounts of money that
would definitely motivate me, but
with or without the money my main
motivation will always be how much
joy I find in the act of painting. Being
a millionaire wouldn’t hurt though.
28
2023