Water Colour Paintings of Nottingham: A Solo Exhibition by Oliver Lovley

About

Saturday 15 - Sunday 23 February 2014

Open daily 11am - 6pm

Artist Statement

I have been interested in drawing and painting since an early age when I would draw from imagination. Now I begin a picture from observation
and then improvise from this material. Regardless of subject I begin a picture with a rough layout plan in a notebook from my own photographs
or location drawings. I usually choose a face-on symmetrical composition for immediate visual communication. The next stage is a more detailed
pencil drawing on the paper itself - this forms a skeleton from which to improvise.

I build up a picture piece by piece, a technique that allows for many unpredictable effects such as colours running into each other or overlapping.
My preferred method of mark making is to allow what some watercolour artists may refer to as 'problems', such as the paint drying like a cauliflower
or an 'uneven wash' developing - effects I encourage by adding coffee, tea, onion and other homemade vegetable inks to standard watercolour block
paints. I use brushes, dip-pen and pipette to apply the paint, often applying a lot of water initially and then working the water outwards with the dip-pen.
I value constant practice and carry a small notebook at all times to make a drawing when the occasion presents itself.

I have a BA Hons in Illustration from Loughborough University and have exhibited at The National Portrait Gallery in London, The Watershed Centre in Bristol, Nottingham Castle Museum, The Nottingham Contemporary and Waterstones Bookshop. I am also a regular exhibitor at live arts & crafts events around the UK.