Wrestling landscapes with rock paper and water, out and about in the Lake District.
I find every season changes something about how I’m working, colour is a big thing, and how colour acts has an impact on my process. Having spent over a decade working in the hospitality industry, I’m now devoting more time to painting, getting out and about sketching. It’s a circular process, I can’t do the paintings without the outdoor sketching, (that’s what ‘plein air’ is, if you’ve seen the phrase), and sometimes the paintings send me out to solve a painterly problem.
The paintings are of a landscape formed of and by rock and water – hence the website name and Instagram page. My actual name is Heather James, my family have been in the lakes for centuries, I spent over 20 years in London working in the design industries, and have an MA in Fine Art from Central St Martins. Although the person who taught me to draw ‘properly’ was a tutor on my 1980’s BA, a nattily dressed gent who’d still got the Mark 2 Jag bought new.
I’ve found my visual language about what these vast landscapes mean to me.
View GalleryMy Instagram page @RockPaperWater is regularly updated with new works, both paintings and sketches, pages from my workbooks, maybe details I like from works that don’t make the final edit.
Sometimes there are tiny details of the environment as well as panoramic views.
Works will be available to buy, I have a shop page set up with secure Stripe payment. Get in touch if you’re interested in purchasing.
