Fresh Paint
ABOVE RIGHT
Sarah Connell,
Mayfield Station,
Warehouse
Project,
Manchester,
acrylic on panel,
80x80cmSarah Connell
As a native Mancunian, acrylic and digital artist Sarah
Connell has long been drawn to the rich history of
artists depicting urban and street scenes in the city of
Manchester, with perhaps the most famous among them
being Adolphe Valette and his pupil LS Lowry. “Being from
Manchester, there is a certain nostalgia and personal
resonance for me,” she explains. “But I hope to show
the old buildings and familiar places in an unusual and
contemporary way. I’m interested in light and emotional
atmosphere just as much as the specific location.”
The focus for the Portfolio Plus member’s latest painting
was the derelict Mayfield Depot Station, which has gone
unused for decades. It was recently used to host the
Warehouse Project club nights and is soon to undergo
redevelopment, so it seemed a fitting time to memorialise
the depot in its current state.
Working on a wood panel, perspective was Sarah’s first
challenge, not wishing to lose the angle she liked most
from her reference photos when scaling up the image.
To avoid getting bogged down by unnecessary detail,the artist ditches her reference photos as soon as the
composition is established, instead working from memory
for a looser approach.
This preference for simplicity is further supported by
the worn brushes Sarah uses to apply mixtures of slightly
dried-out acrylic paint, working the thicker consistency to
create rough-edged marks and texture. She juxtaposes this
with thin washes of paint that she allows to run down the
panel as she’s painting, which dry to give the illusion of
movement. “It almost looks as if it’s still moving on the
surface of the panel,” she says.
Sarah’s acrylic paintings are currently on show at the
Cheshire gallery Northern Makes, as well as The Soden
Collection in Shrewsbury. As well as exhibiting, the artist
is a keen advocate for social media. “Since I’ve started
sharing my paintings online, I’ve had so many interesting
conversations with such a variety of creative and
interesting people, from graffiti artists and street
photographers, to historians and building developers.
I’m so pleased my images seem to have struck a chord.”
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