When did you start your creative practice and why?
I studied Fine Art painting for my first degree straight after school but afterwards struggled to know how to make a living from my work. I remember giving myself 4 years after finishing the course to do so. I floundered for that four years about not knowing how to begin and eventually decided to go down a different creative route and retrained as a Landscape Architect and for around 20 years that was my career. Eventually the urge to start painting again pushed me to leave my job and I returned to painting and also developed a way to draw digitally.
How would you describe your artistic style to someone unfamiliar with your work?
I consider myself to be a landscape artist. I would describe my style currently as quite loose and expressive. Many of my paintings are inspired by the drama of the Dark Peak, most recently in oils on gessoed board rather than canvass. I'm loving working on a smooth firm base, sometimes pushing the paint across the surface with silicone tools and sometimes using a brush more traditionally.
What themes or ideas do you find yourself returning to most often?
The heather moors and Edges of the Dark Peak are currently my focus, looking at how colours in the landscape change with both season, light and weather. Woodland is another theme I often return to. Inspiration coming from the many woodland walks around my home in Sheffield. With both subjects exploring the rhythms and patterns in the landscape interest me as well of course as colour and light.
How do you balance artistic expression with practical concerns like income or marketing, social media?
To make a living as an artist, I think it's necessary to treat it as a job like any
other. There is often an uneasy split between the necessary admin involved with marketing planning for events and generally running a small business whilst allowing enough time for creating new work. When I started, I was very lucky to get a place on an excellent course aimed at artists and craftspeople setting up in business. It really clarified how important admin time is and so from the beginning, I've planned it in. I still find much more than half my work time is spent on admin. I have spells of focussing on making, squeezing in the office work around it and other times when my focus is the other way. Occasionally though, I get so absorbed with making that everything else gets forgotten for a while and then of course it's pretty stressful catching up.
Have you got a project / award/ residency/ or idea are you excited to share with us?
I have recently taken part in some of collaborative projects with other members of Peak District Artisans. A couple of years ago with the weaver Emily Murch and currently with ceramic artist, Vivienne Sillar. Not only have I always been thrilled by making in different ways but it really has shifted my focus particularly with my paintings to a looser, more textural approach.
What is your website and how do we find you on social media?
www.jillraylandscapes.co.uk
Facebook: Jill Ray Landscapes
