FESTIVE ARTIST INTERVIEWS
With Christmas approaching the Wyecliffe team has reached out to some of our most respected artists to find out what Christmas means to them.
Kerry Darlington
What inspires you most at this time of year?
"I notice that my work tends to reflect the seasons so Winter always brings more greys and tonal coloured work which reflects my landscape ; and a contrast of the reds and yellows of fallen leaves and a crackling fire. They often have a more dreamy, pensive quality to them too."
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
"My favourite thing about Christmas is spending time with my family. We decorate the house together with Christmas tunes on and mulled wine. My trees are always beautifully decorated! On Christmas Eve the children always open a present of new pyjamas and we sit around our log fire with our animals watching ‘The Snowman’. I have a big family with lots of nephews and nieces and they come to us for Christmas dinner so it is always a noisy fun filled day of board games and food. I love the peace of Boxing Day too and just pottering around the house for a few days. "
What is your favourite Christmas memory?
"I have many fond memories of childhood Christmases. My little sisters and I getting wrapped up warm over our pyjamas on Christmas Eve and being driven around our town by Mum and Dad to see all the houses lit up with lights and lanterns, whilst watching out for any Christmas fairies and listening for reindeer bells. So magical."
"Do you have any New Year resolutions?"
"I have never made New Year Resolutions. I usually celebrate New Years Day with the family and just use the holiday to think about my next projects."
Rozanne Bell
What inspires you most at this time of year?
"At this time of year I find I paint my best flowers, wishing myself to be frolicking in a meadow on a warm sunny day. Never one to face the reality of the world outside my studio. Cold, wet and dark equals "up the vibrancy"
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
"Even though I have 7 adult children ranging from 33 to 24 I still adore doing them stockings! I make it my mission to find them the most bizarre things suiting their personalities. Watching them laughing at how hilarious I think I am always amuses! There is nothing quite like Christmas banter."
What is your favourite Christmas memory?
"Our first UK Christmas in 2002. There is nothing like a British Christmas."
"Do you have any New Year resolutions?"
"I always have about 25654 but like most of us I fail most at the first hurdle."
David Renshaw
What inspires you at most at this time of year?
The contrast between crisp cool hues of winter and the warm glow from street lamps, and lit windows of shops and houses. When I started painting, it was the natural landscape that really inspired me and so I always return to the scenery around me, but even more so at Christmas.
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
Decorating the Christmas tree accompanied by a nice glass of port or three! As likely shows in my work, family is incredibly important to me and so I guess a tradition would also be getting all of us in the same room on Christmas Day.
What is your favourite Christmas memory?
My children’s faces on Discovering Father Christmas’s footprints across the living room floor on Christmas morning... it’s amazing what you can create with an old work boot, flour and glitter!
Do you have any New Years resolutions?
Not really, but as I get older I just try to maintain good ‘all year round’ habits of regular exercise and a balanced diet to stay as fit and healthy as I can. It can be quite static as a painter and so I do like to keep in shape!
Lhouette
What inspires you most at this time of year?
"I wouldn't say my work is seasonal in any way or that I work on themes around a specific times of the year such as love hearts in February or eggs around April, however Xmas is a interesting time of year for me, consumerism and advertising is at its height and I play with these themes a lot in my work, I think maybe the lunacy of Black Friday would be an interesting premise for a piece...on a more basic level I'm I love intense colour and contrasting materials so I am a fan of a big tacky Christmas tree!"
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
"Christmas eve at at our local pub with friends and family is a nice one we do, it has all the wholesome traditions silly jumpers, open fire, pints of Guinness, makes me feel like we are in a 1950s Heartbeat special, or a Bing Crosby album cover but its fun"
What is your favourite Christmas memory?
"When I was a kid, my mum was decorating the walls with what she thought was a tin of spray snow, until she soon discovered it was actually standard white spray paint...we remind her of that every year."
