Nicole Stevenson RSW

I’m drawn to the Scottish coastline, the edges of the land where communities have evolved, dependant on the sea and the shore.  I use the house motif in my work to denote feelings of home, the micro world that we inhabit and make our own.  To me it evokes a way of living from an earlier time when we made the things that we wanted and that enrich our inner lives. The motif is also a useful device to enable me to layer my paintings like Japanese bora fabric or freeform patchwork.  I piece together patches of collage and paint to create depth and to suggest the passing of time.

There is nothing like the feeling of being totally immersed in the landscape when I’m painting on location.  The freedom to pour out lots of paint and make large expressive marks and finding that intuitively the colours come to hand.  I also enjoy hearing stories from people who stop to talk to me.  Often these paintings are finished pieces in themselves but they also inform my studio work – the printmaking, collage and mixed media that go into my panel paintings