Karen Sherwood graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a BA (Hons) in Fine art in 1990 and set up Cupola Gallery in 1991. Her own painting took a back seat for many years but her love of painting was kickstarted again in 2012 when a kind and generous customer offered a stay in her caravan in Seahouses on the fabulous North East coast. This inspired Karen to start painting again and the stunning coastline is no doubt still an inspiration all these years later. Although her work is no longer directly inspired by this specific coastline the large skies and fantastic beaches have no doubt left a lasting impression.
A very brief tour of the main gallery.
A Sense of Place
Karen Sherwood
8 February - 8 March
“This exhibition is comprised of a body of work I have developed over the last two years.
I continue to work exclusively in oils. I enjoy painting on different surfaces including wood, cotton canvas, linen and paper. I enjoy a range of scale. This exhibitions will showcase works from postcard sized up to 150 x 100cm. My paintings develop over time, often taking weeks if not several months to reach their final resting places. Paint is added, scraped back and built up often completely changing from one session to the next. I am aware that my resulting paintings look like seascapes, but I never start out with that intention. I am known for my use of blue, but again that is not a conscious decision. Last year new colours started creeping into my palette. This has continued and is an exciting development.
I have called the exhibition a sense of place as I have noticed that my paintings are becoming more grounded with a definite sense of land/sea and sky. I feel that the finished paintings often remind me of a place that I can’t pinpoint. I do not know if they are partly remembered places I have visited or seen as they simply evolve through the act of painting. I never work from drawings or sketches or photographs.
I have said before and still believe it to be true that my paintings reflect a personal response to my experience of what is happening in my world. This is reflected in the mood, colour and composition of my landscapes. I couldn’t be more landlocked in Sheffield, so why do my paintings end up at the sea? Is it a reflection of our unsettled times or is it because I have a desire to escape to the sea?
I do not know why I do what I do but I know I have to paint and I hope that some of my paintings might connect to a place or a memory of your own.”
Karen Sherwood, Director