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Julia
Leyden
My work always begins with the excitement of some visual
stimuli such as; rock forms, archways, landscapes. What
then fascinates me is the process of extraction/abstraction
and composition. Over a period of several months I will
make drawings, take photographs, produce collages and prints
until there may be little obvious connection to my starting
point - indeed, the end often comes as a complete surprise
to me. My preferred media are painting, printmaking and
collage.
After a fairly rootless youth, I finally settled in
Wiltshire where I have lived ever since. I find the
scenery, especially of North Wiltshire, always provides
inspiration and Westonbirt Arboretum, just over the border
in Gloucestershire, is a steady source of shapes and
colour. I love the texture of the trees and vertical shapes
made by the stands of larches and avenues of limes. In
addition, as a frequent visitor to Cornwall and a huge
admirer of the St Ives School as well as Cornwall itself, I
find inspiration also comes from there.
For
the exhibition 'The Past is Another Country' I have made 15
panels telling the story of Wiltshire in the Bronze Age:
'The Song of Wiltshire Dreaming'. These images are also
available as a booklet with narrative verse. |
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