7 Questions

Today’s 7 Questions is with artist Kirsten Wood, or @kirstinpainter, as we know her, whose vibrant use of colour sets her art apart from many others.  She creates landscapes and animals, all with a colourful twist, and we caught up to chat pet couture and sandwiches, as you do…

1. Your use of colour really brings your work alive, what inspired you to do that?

Thanks! I think I see colour differently to other people – maybe I’m the opposite to someone who is colour-blind – somehow I’ve turned the contrast button up to 11 so everything seems really vivid! When I look at a photo reference for a painting I can immediately see whether it should start with a turquoise, blue or even a pink background, then I work upwards from that lovely bright base colour.

2. How would you describe your work?

I work from my studio in Merstham, Surrey creating vibrant and quirky paintings of landscapes, animals, plants and food with unique crops and close ups – the common theme being my bright palette and unique layering style. Please get in touch to discuss a commission or to talk about her work.
My preferred medium is acrylic on canvas which I then enhance with a water-based glaze. I paint very quickly, either in a pointillist style, or with small dashes of colour, adding layer upon layer to build up depth and intensity.
The starting point for many of my paintings is often a photograph that I have taken or that someone has passed on to me. My contemporary pet portraits have a definite photographic quality to them, but my landscapes are more painterly and rarely resemble the original reference. I am planning a new collection of still life paintings and I hope to bring my unique process to a whole new range of subjects.
I trained as a theatre designer and worked for many years as as a scenic artist for theatre, TV and events. It’s this background that has led me to to work in the way that I do. I tend to grid up the canvas in a series of squares or triangles and work around it from block to block bringing everything together at the end.

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3. Have you ever painted a badger?

Not yet but I’m planning on painting a series of British wildlife pictures and a badger will be at the top of my list!! Probably with a lot of bright blue and green in there just like my Curious Cow portrait!

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4. Where do you stand on Pet Couture?

My Jack Russell, Snowy, loves to dress up in her Christmas pudding outfit, but the 2 cats are not so keen… I tried to dress my cat up as a super hero once but it didn’t end well! I think that as long as the pet is happy to dress up then that’s fine!

5. Describe your ideal sandwich.

Now that is a tricky question to answer – I’m a vegetarian so sandwiches that you buy from the shops are a bit limited and uninspiring – usually egg or cheese. But if I was making my own sandwich at home I would go for an avocado, mozzarella and sun-dried tomato wrap with a big dollop of pesto and some rocket! And of course to go with it would be a big bag of salt and vinegar crisps!! I am a huge crisp fan! Maybe I should try a crisp sandwich?!

6. What’s on the cards for 2017?

If you happen to catch me over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram you may have noticed that I have been posting a countdown to my business re-launch…
I’ve re-launched my business to feature several new aspects – the Kirstin Wood Art Club, the Print Shop and Limited Edition Collections. These are in addition to my original paintings and pet portraits that I have been doing for a couple of years now.
The Kirstin Wood Art Club is a subscription box for lovers of my artwork and for those of you who enjoy getting a surprise treat through the letterbox each month! You can keep the contents all to yourself or if you’re feeling ‘generous’ you could begrudgingly hand them over as a present to a friend!
The print shop features the most popular of my paintings and brings them to you as greeting cards and beautiful giclee (fancy word) prints. They are fantastic value and easy to buy directly from my website.
And finally you can now look forward to brand new Limited Edition Collections featuring strictly limited prints and original artwork. Each collection will be launched online and available to purchase as a group or an individual item for a 3 month period only.
So I’ll be busier than ever!!

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7. If you could ask anyone one question, what would you ask, and to whom?

Wow – that’s a big one… I’d love to ask Monet whether he had any idea at the time how much influence his style of painting would have on the artists that followed him. His techniques and use of colour were a world away from everything that had gone before him. Without Monet I wouldn’t be painting the way I paint. Cheers Claude!!

www.kirstinwood.co.uk

And if you’d like to answer 7 Questions, then get in touch.

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