A Note On Inspiration

Walking along a sun dappled pathway, through a wood where the trees aren’t so dense that the forest feels foreboding and yet plentiful so they screen any signs of road, houses, other people. Walking boots that feel clumsily big, occasionally catching tree roots. Air that feels clean to breathe, fresh. Silence except for chirruping birds, wind dancing through leaves, my footsteps. Eyes darting from tree to tree, branch to branch, leaf to leaf. Constantly framing views, the way the path curls slightly to the right, the twisting branch to the left, the patch of bright green ferns. Fallen leaves, twigs, pebbles. A moss covered tree stump.

Woodland Study V

Mottisfont in July

My biggest inspiration, the forest and all it entails. As I walk through a forest or a wood of some kind I’m constantly in search of my next drawing subject. Even if I’m not actively seeking inspiration it seeps in, a gentle stroll becomes a research mission, always. I’ve loved the countryside and in particular woods for as long as I can remember. I’ve written before about how childhood trips in a caravan to the Forest of Dean instilled in me a love for the outdoors. I’ve been drawing and painting landscapes since studying Fine Art at BA level, nearly 10 years since graduating and I’m still not done with the subject. While studying a Fine Art MA my practice evolved from pencil drawings to tight slightly abstracted pen drawings to large scale loose chalk on blackboard drawings of forest views.

Pathway III

Since graduating with an MA in Fine Art I’ve continued to draw, and draw, and draw. I’ve gone back to fine liners, they feel most comfortable for me. The drawings are not totally representational, they aren’t abstract either. In my mind I’m creating a kind of impression of a landscape, attempting to capture the light and the detail. Building an image through repetitive mark making that allows my mind to wander back to where I was when I took the photograph that I use to aid composition. Some of the drawings work well, in my mind they almost shimmer, like when you’re looking up to the tree tops and the light dapples through. Some drawings don’t work as well and feel flat and lifeless, full of detail but missing something.

Woodland Study IV

Late Afternoon in Micheldever Wood

If I can’t get to a wood or if I’m in need of an inspiration fix from home then I have a small collection of art books to see me through. Most focus on Impressionists and painters of landscapes. Favourite artists include Monet, David Hockney, Peter Doig and Tracey Emin (the catalogue from her solo exhibition at The White Cube titled The Last Great Adventure Is You is a favourite to peruse). I like painterly paintings. Expressive brush strokes, colours that reflect what you see in nature. Beautiful lines made by a fine brush, paint drips. The art I like is nothing like the art I produce, I’ve often wondered about that.

Other Things That Inspire Me:

Postcards, interesting stamps, maps, black and white photography, collections of things in glass cases, walled gardens, Chinese ink paintings, rows of oil paint tubes arranged in rainbow order, old sketchbooks.

What inspires you?

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The Arborealists and Guests: The Art of the Tree

The Arborealists are an artist group founded by artist and curator Tim Craven in 2013. Tim’s intention was to bring together artists who used trees and woodland/forest landscapes as the particular focus of their practice and create opportunities to exhibit work together. An exhibition of several artists work is sometimes a more interesting prospect than a solo artists exhibition due to the variety in approach and mediums displayed. I’ve been following the work of The Arborealists since around 2014 when I finished my MA. I was introduced to the work of Blaze Cyan, a member of the group through Louise Pallister (a Twitter friend) and met Blaze when I went to London to see Louise and Blaze’s work at their final MA exhibition at City and Guilds.

Installation View of The Art of the Tree

Installation View of the Art of the Tree

In September last year I emailed Tim Craven and expressed interest in the group, Tim was gracious and said that although all the member slots were filled he would keep me in mind for any opportunities where I might be able to exhibit as a guest. In April I received an email from Tim asking if I’d like to exhibit as a guest with the group at The Turbine House which is part of Reading Museum. I agreed wholeheartedly and set to work making a new drawing to exhibit. It wasn’t easy but I managed to fit drawing in around looking after my baby son, who was just over two months when I first started work on my piece ‘Woodland Study VI’.

Above: Alders Reflected in the Dart, graphite on board by Paul Newman | Below: Shadowline 2, pencil on paper by Celia de Serra

June rolled around, I’d finished my drawing and organised framing. I took my piece to the Turbine House where I met Tim and some of the participating artists. The venue itself was full of character, situated on the banks of the River Kennet with river views from each of the square framed windows. I returned to The Turbine House the following evening for the private view, Tim’s curation of the show was wonderful. Large colourful paintings were given plenty of room while smaller more monochromatic works were placed together. It was a joy to see work in person by Paul Newman whom I’ve followed online for some time as well as Buckmaster/French whose work I’d seen at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. A personal favourite was the pencil drawing by Celia de Serra, she captured beautiful light and shadow of a forest trail that mentally transported me to a secluded woodland spot.

Fonthill Beech, etching on paper by Blaze Cyan

Detail of Tangled Bank - Winter Light, acrylic on canvas by David Wiseman

A familiar face at the exhibition was Peter Driver, an artist who I met while studying at Winchester School of Art. Peter had his piece ‘Eleven Of The Seventy-Seven Drawings Made At Two Mile Intervals Walking Between Winchester and Salisbury’ on display.

It was a real thrill to see my piece alongside work by accomplished artists and in such a characterful gallery space too. My thanks go to Tim Craven, The Arborealists and guests and the Reading Tree Wardens who invited The Arborealists to exhibit in Reading and invigilated the exhibition.

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2018: In Review

What a difference a year makes!

Sweet Peas by Claire Leach

2018 turned out to be a life changing year, my partner Craig and I started looking for a home of our own and decided to start a family too. Today, Wednesday 16th January marks my 38th week of pregnancy and the day that Craig and I are finally able to pick up the keys to our first home together! Buying a home and having a baby are huge decisions, ones that we’ve spent years talking about. 2018 finally felt like the right time to make our ‘next chapter’ plans a reality.  So in spring and summer of 2018 our ‘next chapter’ began as we found out that we were expecting and an offer was accepted on a home of our own. These two big changes shaped our year dramatically and mine in particular as my original plan to get a part time job went out the window. I worked out that with sales from my shop I could still afford to pay my way and decided that being self-employed would work best when it came to welcoming our little one into the world. Luckily Craig’s salary meant that we were able to get the mortgage we needed to get a foot on the first rung of the property ladder.

Wren and Sprig of Leaves by Claire Leach

Besides the big changes personally I found 2018 to be a challenging and rewarding year for my art career. January started fantastically well in my online shop. I added the remaining 50 of my 100 day postcard project as well as woodland landscapes and a series on native British trees to my shop which went down very well earning me over £600 for the month. I also wrote a personal blog post in January all about my struggles with the title ‘artist’ and how I overcame my confidence issues and started referring to myself as an artist without hesitation. The post was shared by Jackson Art Supplies on Facebook and has had to date over 1,000 views making it my most read, liked and commented on journal entry.

The first half of the year was spent making drawings inspired by my eleven month travels from 2016-17 for my solo exhibition at The Sheep Shed Gallery in Weyhill, Andover. The exhibition took place in July and went well, helping me to establish a working relationship with the gallery and getting my work outside the studio and onto gallery walls. Exhibiting at The Sheep Shed Gallery in July meant that when a spot opened up unexpectedly in September I was one of the first to be offered some wall space which I graciously accepted. I created a small series of tree and landscape drawings to display alongside a fellow local artist and was pleased to be able to add another bit of exhibiting experience to my artist CV.

I had my first commissions in 2018, a set of two trees and a robin which I found challenging as I’d only ever been used to making work to my own specification rather than somebody else’s. Luckily the drawings went down very well and gave me confidence in my ability to work to a brief.

Silver Birch and Veteran Oak by Claire Leach

My social media presence went from strength to strength over the year, I finally achieved over 2,000 Instagram followers and increased my Twitter following from roughly 900 to over 2,000 followers. Focusing on growing my social media helped massively with sales as many of my drawings were bought by people who found me via these channels.

I entered a couple of open submission exhibitions with my drawing Woodland Study IV including the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy for the first time. Unfortunately both attempts were unsuccessful and led me to wonder whether the money and effort of entering open submissions was worth it. I shared my thoughts on Twitter and Instagram and was met with such a lovely and supportive response from fellow artists and creatives.

A campaign that I greatly admire and support called Just A Card featured me on their blog and Instagram account which was such an honour. I also used my own online space to interview ten artists over the year that I admire with the hope of learning from them and increasing their reach online.

Woodland Study IV by Claire Leach

Woodland Study V by Claire Leach

As the year drew on my income fluctuated massively, one month I made just £30 from my online shop while other months I’d earn more than enough to pay my rent and bills. I went through some tough moments where I felt irresponsible for deciding to start a family without having built up my art business enough. In the end I had to accept that I was at a point where I couldn’t change things and had to learn to accept help financially from my partner. My hope is that in the future as my online following grows and my work progresses and hopefully improves that I’ll be able to earn more from my shop with original drawings and perhaps develop a range of work that can be made into prints to create a more passive income. Despite the income fluctuations I ended the year with 102 drawings sold, something that I’m very proud of as I think of how far I’ve come since opening my online shop in July 2017.

Alongside a year of drawing, pregnancy and house buying I also turned 30 in March, celebrating with a wonderful trip to snowy Norway. I was lucky enough to have a family holiday in Spain in May and a trip to Cornwall and the Forest of Dean where yet again I managed to gather so much inspiration for future work.

It’s been quite a year and I have so much to look forward to in 2019 too. I’ve decided to refrain from making goals this year as I have no idea how I’ll adapt to motherhood and how that will affect my life as an artist. Hopefully I’ll be back to drawing in time and my art career will enable me to contribute financially to our little family.

Have you written a review of your year or hopes and goals for 2019? I'd love to read if so, let me know in the comments below. 

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