Featured Artist Andrea Shearing

Artist Andrea Shearing blends sculpture and painting to create abstract images through a meditative process. View more of her art by visiting her website.

 

 

I was fortunate to have a traditional Scottish training at Edinburgh College of Art where I studied sculpture and painting. The first two years of my studies were devoted to intense observational drawing including anatomy, painting, sculpture and basic design. This training has formed a sound foundation to develop my own personal language—it still underwrites the essence of my work.

 

 

Although I work outdoors on location, I am not trying simply to represent my subject matter in a naturalistic way. My aim is not only to capture the energy and force of nature but also find an inner meaning.

 

 

My creativity is driven by the inner journey I am on—my ideas start in the unconscious. Initially my creative process starts with a feeling. I then look for a location that somehow connects with this feeling and through contemplation the meaning slowly emerges.

 

 

Having chosen a location, I get an image in my mind’s eye. I see the shape of the painting and the composition. At this point I not only draw up the outer shape and cut the MDF board, but I also work out my palette. I feel that the colour palette is the key to marrying the inner feeling I have to the timbre and mood of the painting and I give this very careful consideration. There is a colour concept behind my choice of colours.

 

 

I have found composing in irregular shapes a very dynamic process. Choosing which line to make first is the springboard on which the act of composing starts, so careful consideration is given to making the first mark. From this the image emerges and grows.

 

 

I work very slowly, mixing minute amounts of paint to get exactly the tone and intensity of colours I want. Although I represent the location I have chosen with a degree of accuracy, my process is a meditative one so the link with the subconscious is kept. It is only as the painting evolves that I understand the meaning it has for me.

 

 

My aim is to give the viewer the opportunity to tune into this, and also to provide them with the opportunity to travel around the world I have created to find their own meaning in it.

 

 

I try to incorporate time, speed, and breathing spaces in my work. An inner journey requires time and space. The speed of the journey varies so I see some shapes as slow shapes and some lines as fast lines. The spaces are areas that the viewer can sink into.

 

 

For example, in my series of healing pools, I have tried to create a vibrant and luminous simple shape in order to invite the viewer to spend time bathing in the healing colour of blue.

 

 

Recently, a London barrister bought my Deep Pool for her daughter who is seriously ill. This touched me deeply to think my painting might help her recovery. Finding a good home for my work is my idea of success!

 

Artist Andrea Shearing invites you to follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

 

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