Life and Work
Life
I am originally from London, UK. My passion for art developed early, thanks to an inspiring art teacher who helped me to develop my design and technical skills as well as a keen interest in art history.
In 1979 I left school to do a Foundation in Art and Design at Brighton Polytechnic (now Brighton University) followed by a bachelor’s degree in constructed textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic (now Middlesex University). After graduation I was awarded a British Council Scholarship to study textiles in Greece.
Upon returning to London, I chose to work in social care work focusing on elderly and mental health services. In 1986 I enrolled in an Art Therapy postgraduate program at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design (now Hertfordshire University). After graduation I worked in the mental health field in hospital and day centre settings within London.
In 1999 I moved to Ottawa, Canada with my husband and young daughter where I found the time and space to focus on my own artwork.
I’ve had several exhibitions in Ottawa, at the Ottawa School of Art and at Calligrammes Art Gallery where I was represented until 2012.
In recent years I took a training in the Alexander Technique which helped me develop ease of movement and better posture. I worked for a brief period as an Alexander Technique teacher before re-focusing on art.
Artwork
My artwork experiments with a wide range of approaches from gestural, abstract modes of expression to controlled, craft-related methods, and more traditional drawing techniques.
My work is often playful, such as the pieces shown in ‘Park’ and ‘Kin’, and at other times explores serious themes such as climate change as in ‘Providence’.
What unifies my work is the use of paper which provides a ground on which to draw and paint as well as a medium that can be manipulated, torn, punctured, cut and reassembled resulting in a variety of textural effects.
The natural world serves as the primary source for my artistic inspiration in terms of form, pattern and texture. Walks in the park, time in the garden, the study of flowers, plants and trees all feed my imagination.
The southeastern Canadian landscape is of particular interest to me. The sweeping expanses of forest, the dynamic boundaries where land meets water and sky, the multitude of shapes a pine tree can take and the subtle colours revealed as the swamps thaw in spring, fascinate me.
My work draws on a range of influences, such as a background in constructed textiles, twentieth-century abstract art, and the legacy of Canadian landscape painters.
For many years I have practised insight meditation. This has nurtured a receptivity and sensitivity to the world around me as well as a light approach to making art.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my parents, Ron and Shirley Bartlett, for their support of my creative endeavours, my school art teacher Kate Cliff for encouraging me to pursue a training in art, my husband Bob Forbes for his ongoing support and encouragement, my daughter Hazel Forbes for her creative input and website design and the many friends and family members who have taken an interest in my art.
Photo Credits
David Barbour, Tom Evans, Adrienne Herron.