Rachael Cawley M.A
Artist
The problem with commuting to the “big city” which I did for nearly 40 years, is that one rarely has time to enjoy or participate in the local community. Other than escorting my son to daily sporting and social events, I mainly just prepped for the next days lecturing and slept.
I completed my M.A in 2008 and my work was, at the time, concerned with Gothic Revivalism and Early Christian Iconography.
It’s not anymore.
Early retirement, caring for an elderly relative with dementia, finally allowing myself to own a dog and Covid, changed everything for me. I walked everywhere and I saw buzzards, rabbits, otters and foxes…colours that changed with the seasons, winding pathways, lazy rivers, threatening skies and endless field patterns. Better than that, I wasn’t glimpsing these things through a windscreen. I had time to think.
Two years ago I pulled the unfinished large canvases off the back wall of my studio and decided to only paint what I had seen. I had to go really small for me as I was scared. I transferred to plywood so that I could sand it all back if it went wrong, which of course it did initially.
I was taught at “art school” , that women’s artwork is invariably concerned with the domestic which was decorative, illustrative and narrative. Pattern and colour are not considered high brow in academic esteem.
By this time I was over 60. I no longer cared what academia thought of me.
I currently have three series of work underway, “The Long Walk Home” is decorative, “The Hedgerow Series” is illustrative and “The Narrative Series” speaks for itself with the story behind every painting informing the composition and colour choices.
I love audio stories. Words become colours and patterns as I listen and paint. I do quite a lot of laughing and grumbling as I work as well.
You can find me here if you want to see more work. I dont update my website often enough, I,m told.
http://www.rachelcawley.com
https://www.facebook.com/rachael.cawley
http://www.saatchiart.co./account/profile/333314
https://www.instagram.com/rachaelthepaint/
https://uk.pinterest.com/cawley0370/
https://twitter.com/rachaelthepaint
Artist
The problem with commuting to the “big city” which I did for nearly 40 years, is that one rarely has time to enjoy or participate in the local community. Other than escorting my son to daily sporting and social events, I mainly just prepped for the next days lecturing and slept.
I completed my M.A in 2008 and my work was, at the time, concerned with Gothic Revivalism and Early Christian Iconography.
It’s not anymore.
Early retirement, caring for an elderly relative with dementia, finally allowing myself to own a dog and Covid, changed everything for me. I walked everywhere and I saw buzzards, rabbits, otters and foxes…colours that changed with the seasons, winding pathways, lazy rivers, threatening skies and endless field patterns. Better than that, I wasn’t glimpsing these things through a windscreen. I had time to think.
Two years ago I pulled the unfinished large canvases off the back wall of my studio and decided to only paint what I had seen. I had to go really small for me as I was scared. I transferred to plywood so that I could sand it all back if it went wrong, which of course it did initially.
I was taught at “art school” , that women’s artwork is invariably concerned with the domestic which was decorative, illustrative and narrative. Pattern and colour are not considered high brow in academic esteem.
By this time I was over 60. I no longer cared what academia thought of me.
I currently have three series of work underway, “The Long Walk Home” is decorative, “The Hedgerow Series” is illustrative and “The Narrative Series” speaks for itself with the story behind every painting informing the composition and colour choices.
I love audio stories. Words become colours and patterns as I listen and paint. I do quite a lot of laughing and grumbling as I work as well.
You can find me here if you want to see more work. I dont update my website often enough, I,m told.
http://www.rachelcawley.com
https://www.facebook.com/rachael.cawley
http://www.saatchiart.co./account/profile/333314
https://www.instagram.com/rachaelthepaint/
https://uk.pinterest.com/cawley0370/
https://twitter.com/rachaelthepaint