Four Seasons, Framed

Georgia Elliott studied Illustration at The University for the Creative Arts in Kent where she discovered mono-printing which led to painting. What inspires your work as an artist? Being out in nature, there’s an abundance of colour, space, light, movement, and then the changing weather effects all of these elements once more. I enjoy working on site in the landscape, woodlands and gardens. At first it can feel quiet and calm, but once I start painting I notice it’s not quiet at all. It's alive with movement, sound, energy and life. I aim to translate this feeling, evoking the essence of place rather than an exact likeness. Who are your biggest influences? I love the works of John Virtue, especially his large paintings of the sea which really capture it’s energy and force. I love Megan Rooney’s intense colour palettes. I find so much peace in Helen Frankenthaler's ‘soak-stain’ paintings and enjoy the bold mark-making of Peter Lanyon, Lee Krasner and Joan Mitchell’s work. What does your work mean to you? It’s a release, a passion, a pursuit. It feeds me, well I guess being out in nature feeds me and that fuels the work. The world is changing at such a rapid pace, especially out natural environment and I think an artists role can simply be to remind people of what we love, and what we don’t want to loose. What techniques do you use? I work intuitively, letting the painting lead rather than following a fixed composition or pre-planned idea. Working en plein air (or from memories of a place), I work with urgency, pulling all the elements from my surroundings onto the canvas. Colours, shapes, movement, changing light, sound, layering and shifting until the story of that moment feels heard. I work with a combination of acrylic, oils and oil sticks, applied in bold, layered gestures with brushes, rags and bare hands.