Sophie Parr

About

Contemporary Landscape Painter

My work is a response to the places I visit, where I have emotional connection and a need to capture what I see. I use the landscape to trigger ideas, forms and structures. My paintings are not direct representations but an attempt to represent the feeling of being there; the movement, the elements, the textures and colours.

My seascapes have been developed from drawings and paintings from direct observation in Cornwall. I love the dramatic nature of the sea and the continuously changing beach. I like the fact that I have to work quickly and decisively as the light and water levels change rapidly; take too long and you have a confused and laboured study. I am particularly interested in how the land meets the water, the reflections in the pools of water, the marks and textures left by the tide. It is a real challenge to capture the drama of the wind and the sea, and the ever changing light

More recently I have been working locally to my home in Cheshire. In particular the Sandstone Trail, a 34 mile footpath from Whitchurch to Frodsham. It has been a source of inspiration that I have revisited regularly over the years, it played an important part in the work I produced during my degree course and it holds many childhood memories. It is a changeable landscape with high sandstone ridges, dense woodland, undulating pathways, sheer drops and wide open aerial views. The drama in this landscape is the changing levels, horizons and viewpoints. I get very preoccupied with the linear qualities of the trees, the colours and textures of the foliage and the contours of the land.

It has always been an important part of the process of developing my ideas to work with a variety of media and techniques, such as printmaking, collage watercolour, inks. For me this time spent investigating is vital for creating successful paintings.

You can learn more at www.sophieparr.co.uk

You can follow the journey of my developing work on my facebook page www.facebook.com/sophieparrlandscapes/