TALKIN G TECHNI Q U ESLucy
Marks
With an experimental approach to oil mediums
and mark making, this vibrant artist wants to
share her love of the landscape through paint,
as AMANDA HODGES revealsL
ucy Marks’ upcoming exhibition at the Piers Feetham
Gallery will showcase this distinctive artist’s vibrant
portfolio of work and her enthusiasm for the venture
is evident. “It has been such an exciting and thrilling
journey to get to this point.”
She describes herself as fundamentally a landscape
painter who “walks a line pushing towards the abstract”
and her canvases are distinguished by a sense of palpable
movement and vibrant energy. “The joy of being a
landscape painter – and one of the reasons I fall in love
with painting the land and sea and sky so much – is that it
is forever changing. You can go outside to the same spot
day after day and it never looks the same.”
Her new collection features both watercolour and oil
paintings and they vary in scale to reflect the South Downs
landscape. Growing up in Sussex, her family were keen
walkers and she has a clear affinity for the natural world.
“Today all is so busy it’s hard to find time to connect back
to the basics and just enjoy the fundamental land around
us,” she says, something she’s redressing through her art.
One of the interesting facets of Lucy’s landscapes is that
although each is characterised by depth and vitality, none
is directly representational of any specific place; this is a
deliberate strategy. “We all experience the world differently.
In the same way no one person will ever experience the
same landscape on the same day in the same way. So why
getcaughtupwithwhethertherewasahouseordogina
particularspot?Tomeitseemsunnecessary.Goforthe
essence of the place and mood. And allow the viewer to
read into it what they want.”Even on days when things are
tough in the studio, it’s still a
time when I fully feel myself
LEFT The Sky Grew
Darker..., oil on
panel, 85x85cm