A Discussion with the Artist - Jessica Ford

The Art Buyer gallery presents Brighton-based painter Jessica Ford. Ford’s work is a celebration of colour across the canvas; we were excited to have a chat with the artist to discover more on her practice. We interview Jessica Ford on early influences, career highlights, and the joy of working with colour.

Pictured: Jessica Ford

How has your creative upbringing influenced your career as an artist?

My childhood played a huge part in forming my creative career. Both my parents worked in the arts: My Mum is still very much an artist and craftswoman, especially within the textile world. Her background is costume and set design, and so I was lucky to always have wonderful costumes for fancy dress parties! My Father worked at the local university as Head of The Art History department, where he worked for the majority of his career. Visiting art galleries was a big part of my childhood, and there were lots of conversations about art. I was lucky to grow up surrounded by art materials and art books, and our family home is still filled to the brim with fantastic paintings and sculptures.

Have you had a creative career before becoming a painter?

I’m also lucky to work as a commercial illustrator, alongside my painting career. I’ve produced many children’s books, have worked extensively throughout the publishing, design, advertising and packaging sectors too. A career highlight was producing a full range of illustrated packaging for Godiva, for their Valentines Day chocolate boxes. I studied illustration at university, but after ten years of sitting in front of a screen, I was dying to get messy again! I’d painted during my preliminary foundation year and was torn at the time when it came to choosing my specialism. I feel lucky that I can run the two careers alongside one another, and I get to fulfil my desire to be messy!

How do you approach choosing the colour palette at the start of a new piece, is it intuitive or planned out?

I have a loose idea of the colour palette – generally starting with the simple question “is this going to be a light or a dark painting?” as a jumping off block. But on the whole, I tend to layer the colours up until I’m happy. It’s often the ‘happy accidents’ that make the painting a success, and I’m forever on the hunt for new colour combos. If I see a colour combination that I particularly love, whilst out and about, I’ll photograph it and reference it later. I feel lucky that my skill with colour feels very natural to me, and I find it a really joyful experience to put colours together.

How has your art changed over time, whether it be scale, medium, colour palette?

I’ve always worked fairly large, but recently I’ve produced smaller works, which has been fun to do. I still prefer to work to a big scale though, as I love the bold statement a large painting brings to a room. My work has become simpler with time but I still use lots of texture and build up the layers as I always have. I find that customers are excited to see the subtleties within the layers, when seeing them in real life. You miss a lot when viewing them online, so I always prefer people to see my paintings in a gallery setting.

Are your paintings named after real people in your life, or are they fictional?

They’re fictional, although perhaps I should start to name them after people I know! That’s a lovely idea – I might steal that! Whenever I finish a painting, I take time to try and match it with a name that really suits it. It’s a joyous part of the job, as I really love language and finding names that resonate with me is always really fun.

Your work has been featured in various magazines and TV shows, what would be a dream project of yours?

I’ve had the joy of working with various interior designers and stylists, and my work has appeared on many of the George Clarke programmes on Channel 4. A while back, my paintings were also included in the room sets of the Good Homes Show in London, and in turn, appeared on the front cover of their magazine. I’d love to produce a series of artworks for a restaurant or hotel, and collaborate directly with an interior designer on the project, to create some large statement pieces. Up until now my lovely customers have predominantly been homeowners, but it would be really exciting to get more of my work into different kinds of spaces.

.

View Jessica Ford’s collection

Pictured: Rumi by Jessica Ford

My Life in Art- Jessica Ford

First piece of art you bought?

I bought a large, abstract painting from an artist called Tahnee Lonsdale, who was based in London at the time (she now lives in LA). It was a big investment for me at the time, and I’d yet to buy my first flat, so buying a large painting whilst renting felt very grown up at the time! Her work has changed a lot since I purchased the painting but I still love it, and it has pride of place in my home. Here’s a link to the style that she had back in the London days: https://www.moma.co.uk/buy/tahnee-lonsdale-paintings/

Favourite artist?

I love the work of Liza Giles. The confidence of her work is really inspiring.

If you could own any piece of art (even if you have to rob a bank or museum!), what would it be and why?

I’d love to own anything by Hockney, but of course, if I had to choose one, it would be ‘A Bigger Splash’. I love the simplicity and the boldness of it. I love absolutely everything he created during that period, and they really capture the feel (I imagine!) of those times. I should also mention what a huge influence Richard Diebornkorn has had on my work. I would happily own any of his Ocean Park series!

Ocean Park #43, Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

Ocean Park #43, image credit: Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

Ocean Park #43, image credit: Richard Diebenkorn Foundation

More like this...

A Discussion with the Artist- Debbie Lawrence

A Discussion with the Artist – Laura Pedley

Jessica Ford, The Art Buyer gallery

A Discussion with the Artist – Jessica Ford

Meet the artist

.

View Jessica Ford’s collection

My Life in Art- Jessica Ford