18 artistApril 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.ukIN CONVERSATION
pigments. With collage, I tear back and
scratch the paper surface repeatedly
to produce rich, layered effects. I tend
to start with an initial background
wash, which is the sky if there is a sky
in the picture. I then draw out the
main elements and paint the major
shapes and then add detailing. This
last process may include painting,
collaging, stamping, tearing, scratching
and linework.
‘When I’m out looking for material, I
look for compositions that I think will
work. It doesn’t usually take me long
to choose – I usually have something
I want to tackle, although it took me
a long time to learn to see the sort of
compositions I like in a city. There was
one particular view across the River
Thames that I revisited several times
over about two years before I managed
to figure out how to paint it. I often
suffer from block – a lot of my paintings
have a long gestation period.
‘I don’t tend to paint outside. I visitthe coast and London as much as I can
and when on site I sketch and take
photographs to work from later back
in my studio. I usually have a finished
idea in mind but the end result is never
completely predictable. Sometimes
I do experimental work that is less
predictable. I use all sorts of things to
apply paint sometimes – card, credit
cards, rubbers. When I apply collage,
I nearly always work into it afterwards- usually painting, but also sometimes
tearing bits back.’
Style
‘I’ve never knowingly forced a style.
Early on I was worried that I did have a
style, one that I didn’t like! I attended a
lot of workshops with the same artists –
David Bellamy and Jenny Keal. They are
wonderful tutors but I became aware
that if I carried on, I might just become
a pale imitation of them, so I made
a conscious decision then to attend
different workshops with differentartists. I had to trust that if I exposed
myself to lots of different approaches, I
would find my own way of doing things.
So I think my style is still evolving
slowly. Style to a large degree arises
from techniques, and I frequently find
myself adapting techniques to solve
a particular problem in a painting. My
coastal and urban paintings may look
like they are slightly different styles,
but that is because there is more
opportunity to use weathered textures
in the coastal paintings. The approach is
similar in both.
‘I have a core palette of colours, which
currently comprises hematite, indigo,
ultramarine, burnt sienna and blue
apatite Daniel Smith watercolours. I will
usually use two or three of these a lot in
any specific painting. I use a lot of other
colours for accent and the base palette
varies from time to time and depending
on the subject matter.’
Linda’s largest paintings are usually
about 40 3 40cm and take her about tenq London Construction,
watercolour and collage on paper,
22½ 3 8¾in (57 3 22cm).
‘This is another painting based on
views from the top of the Blavatnik
building at Tate Modern.’
u Reflections in Canary Wharf
Construction, watercolour and collage
on paper, 15 3 12½in (38 3 32cm).
‘This painting was completed after
my residency at Canary Wharf in
2018.’