When did you start your creative practice and why?
I studied natural history Illustration after A levels and an Arts Foundation course. I worked for a while as a illustrator and also as a finished artist. I've always painted but started my current practise in 2006 when I started to paint botanicals. In the past few years I have broadened the nature and practise of my work to include landscape and seascape, and now prefer to paint these almost exclusively.
How would you describe your artistic style to someone unfamiliar with your work?
Realistic to semi abstract. I'm a watercolourist and like to let the subject matter and the medium dictate where that will take me.
What themes or ideas do you find yourself returning to most often?
I'm inspired by the beauty and diversity of the natural environment; sometimes this is in the close up detail and other times it can be from a broader perspective. I'm drawn by both localised colour, contrast and shape but in a different order at different times, depending on the subject, the mood, the weather and circumstances.
What is your creative process from idea to finished piece is it always the same?
I take a lot of photographs whenever I'm out and about- I'm always looking. I make sketches in black and white and colour, make colour swatches to decide on palette and often make small 'working paintings' before and during the process, to decide how I might tackle or approach something technically with regard to the medium or of a particular aspect of a painting.
Is there a particular piece of yours that feels especially meaningful? Why?
I am connected to a series of paintings depicting the canal near where I live. The sketches and paintings were conceived and executed during 'Covid' in 2020. I wanted to try and record bright light and the vivid colour of the foliage, contrasting with the stillness and the cool under the canopy. They were less about detailing and more about evoking a feeling.
What do you find challenging as an artist, and how do you overcome these challenges?
Feeling that I could do things better or differently.
Do you ever have creative blocks, how do you keep motivated?
I think everyone has creative blocks. I like to experiment in my sketchbook for this. Just starting to explore something - anything - can lead you out of a period of uncertainty.
How does your immediate environment or location play in your work?
I tend to be a studio worker and I don't work en plein-air except to sketch, so I can work in different locations and do. Good natural light is important though and I like a space to work I'm not good in a cramped or crowded space.
Who are the artists (past or present) who have strongly influenced you?
I'm influenced by many artists both past and present.
How has your style or perspective evolved over time?
I'm now more concerned with making a painting rather than depicting something.
What tools, materials, or techniques are essential to your practice? Is there a colour you just couldn't do without?
Good brushes and a good heavyweight watercolour paper are essential.
How do you balance artistic expression with practical concerns like income or marketing, social media?
It's a constant balancing act. Painting and artistic expression are only part of being an artist and there are periods when it's hard to find that quiet undisturbed space in the studio or in your head. Switching off can be the difficult part.
If you could give the younger you advice what would it be?
Get out and about and work in your sketchbook more. Worry less about the outcome and just do it.
Have you got a project / award/ residency/ or idea are you excited to share with us?
I'm interested in the coast and water at the moment.
If your work could evoke one feeling or reaction in viewers, what would it be?
Appreciation for the beauty and diversity of watercolour.
What is your website and how do we find you on social media?
www.cherylwilbraham.com
