Sophie Milton
What inspires you and motivates you to create? I take inspiration from what I see day to day, but as most days follow a similar routine dictated by
family life and other work commitments, I make sure I take myself off to new places on a frequent
basis. The experience of seeing a building, a setting or a landscape for the first time fires off all
sorts of creative ideas – my attention is particularly drawn to certain colour combinations that
create a particular tension for me and also particular types of form which I see in nature, trees and
architecture.
Those types of experiences are a huge source of inspiration. I tend to take photos, some of which
I’ll print and display in my studio, which then inform my work – but always indirectly, never like for
like. It tends to be a reinterpreted or deconstructed version of what I’ve seen experienced.
Can you tell us about a real-life situation that has had a direct impact on your work?
I recently visited Palm Springs in the US for the first time. I’m finding it is having a big impact on
my work, from the colours, the scale of the environment, the form of the natural landscape and
the buildings there. Also the feeling of being in the desert, the heat and dustiness, such different
textures to England and being surrounded the type of striking modern interpretation of mid
century modern architecture which I have a passion for.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
Andrew and Matthew Lanyon, Wilhelmena Barns-Graham, George Braque, Picasso, Diebenkorn,
Paul Klee, David Hockney.
Has your style changed over time?
Yes, I think so, although friends and fellow artists always seem to recognise my work instantly!
Favourite artwork?
Impossible to give one, like being asked what’s you’re favourite song or film of all time! But some
of favourites would include: Glacier Crystal, Grindelwald,WBG, Southern Ocean ML,
Diebenkiorn’s Ocean Park paintings, Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), David Hockney.
Favourite medium?
Acrylic paint, Oil pastels, compressed charcoal, sanguine stick.
Favourite art genre?
Abstract expressionism / Constructivism
Palm Canyon by Sophie Milton
Joy Gosney
What is your biggest inspiration? Is there something you hope to communicate with your art?
My biggest inspiration is undoubtedly the thrill of simply exploring paint to create imagined
landscapes. Every time I make a new landscape, I feel like an intrepid adventurer setting foot in a
previously undiscovered land and it inspires me to create the next!
I did a LOT of drawing on location as a student, but I now don’t feel the need to work directly from
life, I find it infinitely more satisfying to draw on my own inner knowledge and feelings as the
genesis of my paintings.
With my work, I want to communicate to others that there is always a portal to look through, into a
future point, offering a different, unexpected perspective, or even jogging memories of the past,
somewhere they’ve been before perhaps. I find it’s less of a recognition of a real place, and more
of a deep resonating with a feeling which draws people to a particular work and then speaks
directly to them. It’s wonderful when you see that relationship develop between a painting and a
viewer!
What is your ideal working environment?
I have always worked from a room in my home since I began my illustration career in 1999, but
after building a painting studio at the bottom of my garden last year as my painting practice
expanded, I can’t imagine now working anywhere else! What I love about it is the solitude, having
all my materials around me, the sounds of the garden surrounding me as I work, and the diffused
light which comes from the skylight. It’s as perfect a set up as I could wish for!
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
A teacher called Nick Wilton (who was also an illustrator before becoming a fine artist) switched
me on to accessing a different mindset when it comes to making art, instead of just making a
finished product. It has unlocked a wonderful new way of thinking and creating for me.
Has your style changed over time?
Yes, I love to experiment, so the paintings I produce continually have a fresh, new edge to them. I
am evolving and so are my paintings. Embracing evolution of the work is the definition of making
art. If it doesn’t continue to change and excite me, why would it excite anyone else?
Favourite artwork?
“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt is full of emotion, pattern, colour and painterly qualities, it’s got
everything!
I studied his paintings when doing A-level textiles, reproducing my own version using gold thread
and beads on painted silk. It’s interesting to see how, after a 30 year hiatus, I’ve picked up the
gold again and am really enjoying its properties and symbolism.
Favourite medium?
Definitely acrylic, but I’m really enjoying experimenting with textural mediums within that too. In
the future I want to explore using oil paint on top of acrylic as well.
Favourite art genre?
I am very drawn to folk and outsider art, art which comes from a completely authentic place within
the artist. I think Alfred Wallis (the St Ives fisherman who turned to painting in his later years) is the
epitome of this and I love his work.
Coastal Walk 2 by Joy Gosney
Rachel Redfern
When is your favourite time of the day to paint?
I am an early riser, I find it the purest time of day for thinking and creating. I can often rise at
dawn, meditate, walk in the garden and pick flowers and take my coffee to the home studio and
sit at my painting altar. Its quite a sacred space-I burn sage, candles and quietly paint as dark
turns to light. I still have a large studio in Haslemere but my more intimate work is time dependant
and it makes sense to have this space ready at home, no journeys, no distractions. A bit monastic
in style. Pure solitude.
Describe how art / the arts are important to society?
Art has saved me on many occasions. It is a second career having worked in the city. When the
complexities of running a home, managing two young children and being in a full on job in an
office miles away from home became too much I turned to my childhood dream in the arts.
Having experienced a family tragedy in my 20’s returning to art helped heal me in a way nothing
else could. It is an amazing tool for self discovery and I believe passionately in its use in therapy (I
completed an Art Psychotherapy Foundation) and research (I was a facilitator on an Arts Council
research project called Drawing Insight). I recently became a Trustee for Mind and have also been
taken on as the artist in residence in a temperate rainforest called Cabilla in Bodmin. Using
painting, drawing, writing and sculpture I am documenting how time in this ancient untouched
landscape can influence my wellbeing. In a complex world the arts has a key role in society to
heal, expand and grow thinking and allow the discovery of a sense of self. This ability is unique to
human kind as is our connection to nature, it has soul in a way AI and other technology cannot
replicate.
What do you do to grow and develop as an artist?
I am a believer in lifelong education. I was no academic when at school but once I hit 40 became
hungry to learn completing a couple of foundation courses and an MA and a year of mentoring at
Newlyn Art School. I take a practical creative course once a year to stretch myself which for now
is in sculpture. I often toy with the idea of doing a PhD….never say never!
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
Strangely poetry as a route to thinking and painting. I adore Mary Oliver’s poetry and was
devastated when she recently passed away, having the chance to hear her read her own poetry
was pretty high up on my wish list. Music too, I often have a song on repeat in the home studio as
a form of meditation-Lisa Gerrard is my go to. She created her own language for her songs, it is
other worldly.
Has your style changed over time?
Massively. My work when I completed my MA was incredibly abstract, scaled up to 2 to 3 metres
in size in Acrylic. I am now painting intimate small oils. Different scale. Different medium.
Favourite artwork?
I am a huge fan of Frank Auerbach. His thick impasto paintings and his ability to paint every day,
without fail, painting the same person the same day of the week for decades, is testament to his
grit as a painter. His bravery in sometimes scraping it off and starting again heart stopping. The
outcome is just divine. I recently saw Head of E.O.W. I, 1960 at Newlands Gallery in Petworth and
adored it.
Favourite medium?
Oil, the smell the alchemy everything about it. I feel like I am having an affair with Michael Harding!
Favourite art genre?
Abstract Expressionist
Savour The World by Rachel Redfern
Emma Price
How have your life experiences influenced your aesthetic style?
Having had a previous career as a magazine designer/Art Director ~ it meant my work was quite
ordered, requiring structure and resolving ways to engage audiences through the intricate balance
of type, colour and negative space. The simpler, cleaner it looks; often the harder it is to achieve!
As my creative path has evolved into painting, I’ve realised that this desire to create balance and
harmony in the use of ‘assets’ is still in my work – the assets now are colour and tones of the
landscape; the balance is the seamless transition from one tone to another, without a visible
brushstroke in sight; and the harmony is the ethereal mood this evokes in the audience.
Through my own experiences ~ I grew up on a farm, am an avid walker and have traveled to
countries as diverse as Australia, Oman, Antarctica and Uzbekistan ~ the desire to create work
that resonates and connects emotionally with the viewer whether through a memory, or an
experience, is definitely what drives me now.
Is there something you can’t live without in your studio? Music! The power of music, particularly dance and classical ~ and the ability to completely
immerse yourself in the time/beat, not at all unlike being in the natural landscape which in turn
brings about a total absorption in the organic painting process; time, copious cups of lady grey
tea, and my aubergine balzac-style armchair which has travelled from one side of the world and
back – twice!
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
My school Art teachers, Mrs Best and Mrs Randall – for creating the desire to question and
embrace what is around us, and emotionally how this informs us and our work. Bridget Riley,
JMW Turner, the Australian Impressionists – Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, Mark Rothko,
Giorgio Morandi.
Has your style changed over time?
Absolutely ~ most recently my style has changed from only hyper-realism drawing to atmospheric
abstract landscape painting… presently working towards drawings in a more ethereal style,
alongside of, and are more indicative of my paintings.
Favourite artwork?
Bridget Riley – Fall (1963); Cataract 3 (1967); Elioth Gruner – Spring Frost (1919); Benozzo
Gozzolini (attributed to) – Seated man drawing, and a sleeping dog (1460-80)
Favourite medium?
Oils for painting; graphite and charcoal for drawing
Favourite art genre?
Op Art (Riley describes it as evolving relationship between looking, seeing and representation);
Abstract Art.
Secret Garden II by Emma Price
Alison Hunt
Tell us a bit about your creative process. You paint without a plan, so how do you
start and when do you know a work is finished?
I photograph in black in white when am out walking or travelling abroad. Back in the studio I use
the photographs as a starting point and break the images down to simple contour lines to depict
the landscape and simplify the images. I build up the layers of paint and inks using squeegees,
credit cards water sprays as my tools. After this I am guided by the paint and how it flows ,the
colours come instinctively was I work. Knowing when a painting is finished is a gut feeling – the
knowledge if I keep going it will be overworked.
Tell us about your background and how you got into painting?
I dropped out of a Foundation Course in Art and quit education for a career in fashion buying
where I stayed until I had a family. I retrained as a florist before moving to Singapore. On
returning I picked up my paints again starting with a local art class and building on remembered
skills from my education.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
I think my family have been extremely influential on my artistic growth. Growing up I was
surrounded but a mother and grandmother who always worked with fabrics, making lampshades,
stitching leather gloves, intricate quilting, hat making, embroidery. I developed a love of textiles
and would make my own clothes taught by both of them. Every female in my family has made
their own wedding dress. Using fabric has given me an appreciation of texture and colour which I
think comes across in my painting.
Has your style changed over time?
Yes very much – my style has been gradually moving to where it is now and I am now working
much more consistently – refining elements of it. My colour palettes.
Favourite artwork?
A random list!
Georgia O Keefe Desert Landscapes. Dutch flower paintings Flaming June – Sir Frederic
Leighton. Antony Gormley’s sculptures.
Favourite medium?
Acrylic paint, glaze medium and acrylic inks pumice medium
Favourite art genre? Modernism
Where I Wonder by Alison Hunt