Basic Information
She was educated at Helston School 1983 – 1990. This is where
she gained a handful of GCSE's plus two A Levels. The subjects naturally
included art.
1990 – 1992 ended up at Southampton
Institute for Higher Education. Gained an HND in a mixed bag of subjects that
included business, art, and media.
1995 – 1998 went
to St John's College in York and studied art with a minor subject of English
Literature. She specialised in printmaking and gained a 2:2.
At this moment in time, artwork is still more of a pastime and it competes heavily with Kirsty's other hobbies that include White Crane Martial Arts, going down the pub, swimming, horse riding and watching DVD's. Kirsty hopes that all this will change and that artwork and illustration will prioritise over her cleaning jobs as the main source of income.
An Introduction on Kirsty's Art Styles
Kirsty works in several distinct
illustrative styles. The first kind of style is worked in acrylics and is based
on the techniques and tutoring that she was taught during the last few years at
Helston School. This particular method focuses on a realistic rendition of
colour and drawing and is reserved for paintings of pets, sceneries etc
especially from photographs. Kirsty is not fussy and will often paint from
photographs as and when required. This also is for convenience especially when
painting peoples' pets.
For imaginative freehand
paintings, Kirsty follows roughly the same principles as above, but allows for a
smoother, brightly coloured approach. The result is more illustrative than
realistic, although details are included. When producing the more illustrative
fantasy stuff, Kirsty has discovered that tough cartridge paper enhances the
smoother finish and can be worked on with an airbrush. She finds that some
airbrushing creates a certain ambience to the painting although she tends to
avoid using it when painting the more realistic subjects.
Before Kirsty started painting, she used to work in pen and ink
and do cartoon style illustration. She will quite often fill in time by doing
cartoons of books or bits of life that have inspired her. It is a means for her
to create characters of her own imagining. She also draws characters from other
peoples' concepts/stories/books if they really fire up her imagination. A prime
example would be the books and radio plays of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy by Douglas Adams. She has filled in a number of blank pieces of A3 paper
with cartoon type scenes from Hitchhiker's Guide.
Other styles have included various printmaking methods – favourite techniques in
this were lithographs and collographs. She has been known to work with charcoal,
pastels, and water-soluble coloured pencils.
There are many assets to what influences this artwork and what lies behind it. Something that has not been mentioned is music. K is no musician but she does listen to a range of different styles and bands from punk to jazz, psychedelic, ordinary contemporary pop, world music, whatever.
Sometimes, the music can have a direct influence on the work produced, but generally, it acts as a channel or a focal point in order to get her brain in gear especially as it is needed whilst painting or drawing.
Some bands and musicians that are of interest and/or
inspiration: The Damned, Gong, The Fish Brothers, Soft Boys, Fats Waller, 60's
music, 80's music, Simon and Garfunkel, Captain Sensible, the Bonzo Dog Doodah
Band and Ian Dury plus comedy punk bands and FIP radio. The list goes on.
There is one particular song that has been a big
influence in terms of motivation and it can be found on Ian Dury's last studio
album "Ten More Turnips from the Tip". It is called "I Believe" and the lyrics
are very apt to the way K feels about life and everything, especially when it
includes making use of given talents.
Glastonbury and other stuff
Kirsty is inspired by sites of ancient
mystery and in particular one place above all others stands out – Glastonbury.
She does not know why this place in particular, but she went there for the first
time when she was about 13 or 14 and has been hooked ever since. K finds it a
perfect setting to base fantasy pictures of unicorns and UFOs and stuff. K ends
up visiting Glastonbury at least once a year these days in order to get away
from noisy, busy Brighton and to enjoy the countryside as well as spark off a
new batch of ideas for paintings. Going there allows her the time to do
sketchbook work as well as trying out all the lovely pubs!
K was born in Helston, Cornwall and has spent the largest
percentage of her life living there. Now she has lived away from her place of
birth for a long while, she now appreciates its beauty and uniqueness much much
more. She will use scenes of Cornwall in paintings although these tend to be
straight sceneries rather than fantasy based. She tries to go back once a year at least in order to
visit friends and her mother.
It was during the 5th year at Helston School in Mrs Dennis' art room
that K opened up to fantasy painting. Although through most of her childhood she
had written stories and had drawn imaginative stuff about dragons, winged horses
and stuff, it was the fun in the art room during GCSE's that got her started. It
wasn't that she was just using inks and paints to create work; it was also
during the dinner breaks with her friends Hayley and Ian having a laugh and
farting around, too. This was when K discovered the Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy, Red Dwarf etc. It was also a time when she was free of being picked on
at school and things were much happier. Also, that school year, as she was
studying for GCSE's she had not been hampered by any part time employment
either.
K's painting techniques were developed
during A Levels where she was taught how to use acrylics and water-soluble
coloured pencils by a tutor called George Bibby. It was he who taught his
students to open their eyes to all the colours found in things when painting or
drawing them and to this day, K will still follow those principles in her
paintings. Also, acrylics are still the preferred medium for producing work and
the soluble pencils are preferred when doing drawings from life.
College was a good experience for K especially at York where she
specialised in printmaking, although college art is very abstract orientated.
Apart from the prints, a vast proportion of K's work ended up in the bin. The
experience was great but having to produce modern abstract type work in order to
appeal to the tutors and the invigilators only resulted in average grades. K
left York College in June '98. Discouraged by the curriculum and having to do
things in the way that it wanted, it was a further three years before she picked
up a brush and got back into painting and drawing in the style that was natural
to her.
Inspiration and Interests
There are many different things and
subjects that have inspired Kirsty over the years and some of these have had a
bit of an impact on the artwork she produces. This inspiration has come from
stories, comedies, artists, and the natural world.
K
has looked at the work of many artists past and present, and has found the
Impressionists, Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian Fairy painters and modern fantasy
artists to be helpful in terms of techniques and ideas for imagery. Also, these
are merely enjoyed for what they are. Out of the many artists, she takes a
particular liking to Brian Froud, Rodney Matthews, Escher, Quentin Blake, and
Roger Dean.
Other artists include the atmospheric
landscapes of Caspar Friedrich and the British painters of that
time. Also, people like Munch, Kandinski, Klimt,
etc.
Stories and books play a big part in K's work
especially Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" which she enjoys
illustrating as a means of entertainment. The works of Tolkien, JK Rowling and
other modern children's fantasy writers serve to influence her
imagination.
Other Interests
K has other interests than art and she has
to juggle these around a busy schedule of work and watching DVDs. Her main hobby
as such is White Crane Martial Arts, which she does mainly because she enjoys
it, but also because it keeps her fit, healthy and is beneficial to her
health.
She enjoys swimming and horse riding also.
If she had the time and the means, she would probably spend a lot of time in the
open countryside walking around and sketching. K gets a lot of ideas and
inspiration from trees, horses, beaches, and natural habitats. She also gets it
from Space and astronomy although it's not likely she'll be able to go there!
Other interests include Punk Gigs, Real Ales, Real
Food especially curries, stews and lentils and anything with lemons in it. She
enjoys reading and occasionally going around museums and art galleries.
