the story - so far...
Wielding colour and shape is second nature to Teresa. Years as Creative Director of Scout & Boo, designing ranges of furniture, ceramics and prints alongside husband David have honed her eye for form and colour not to mention a fierce grip of the more fun bits of graphic design.
When lockdown kicked in and made the rest of us crazy, Teresa took to her paints, threw herself into her quirky and inspirational private studio, and grew a once-tentative curiosity and experimentation into full-blown flamboyant confidence that’s led to a full-time smorgasbord of painted expression in every form. And of those forms there are many.
Teresa’s eclectic styles each tap into a different part of her life and creative history so are autobiographical in some sense. From the calming but visceral, kinesthetic hand-painted Sea Scapes, identified by their irresistible accent of hero neon; to the pop of the Neonscape series that let the viewer make up their own story; the fun childlike visual exploratory worlds of Candy Land & Dopaminescapes – boundless energy, weaved and engineered onto the packed canvas in visuals that just keep giving and giving.
my work...
tinyscapes & seascapes
The tranquil, calming and grounding effect of being near the sea led me to painting seascapes. Whether its a moody mid-November day in Norfolk, or a sun drenched Greek island like Naxos, its the feeling I get when looking out to sea which I aim to capture, rather than a specific scene.
The tinyscape paintings use reclaimed plywood blocks which are hand-cut (by husband as he’s a bit more precise than I am with sharp things that can maim) and sanded, sealed and then have three layers of Gesso applied before the painting begins! All ply is reclaimed off-cuts from our furniture business and other reclaimed sources.
The larger seascapes are painted on stretched canvas and medium sized pieces on ply-board.
For my tiny ones I have found that my fabulous right index finger creates the instinctive marks I need way more successfully than a brush, with the occasional sharp line using a palette knife – it’s finger painting for grown ups! It's the same with the large paintings, both hands get covered in paint and get in on the action, working the paint into the canvas. It’s a visceral process, I get lost in a world of my own, intuitively working with the paint at fair speed, barely coming up for air. Different colours and textures of paint are layered with movement and energy until it just feels right, ending with the hero colour which offers it’s final identity.
abstract / candyland
What a treat for the free and joyful chaotic part of my brain!
I get an incredible sense of freedom with each mark that is laid down, every shape and colour creating expansion and joy as its unscripted form takes shape, layer upon layer. As a child I would doodle for hours and hours at a time, creating as much detail as possible, these versions are from the 50 year old me. 50, bloody hell, how did that happen!!?
These are a liberating expression of my continuing healing process, therapy at its finest.
I get to live a child-like exuberance where each bold mark fills me with joy. Meticulous layers of information, dots, dashes, squiggles, marks...more more more... until it ends in a futuristic reality to lose yourself in...
abstract / dopaminescapes
Several years ago I had a brilliant dream. I was sat on the edge of the world, a dark curve just like you would imagine from space.. as I looked out from my place on earth I was looking at heaven, and it was utterly beautiful. A joyful, wild and untamed landscape, intense colours, fabulous, bold, unapologetic and naturally perfect.
These paintings are an extension of that dream, intense scapes of pure joy, fun and colour. A further exploration into the liberation that comes with the child like freedom of mark making - no barriers, no rules, unencumbered from the crappier bits of life. An occasional dark and intense sky is a nod to the reality that no life landscape is fun and games all of the time but don’t the good times look bloody marvellous.
abstract / neonscapes
Within the chaos of my ADHD-like brain I sometimes crave order and routine. Clear and quiet repetition to calm the nerves. The neonscapes are the antithesis of the other work I have talked about.
Made up of very thin layers of paint upon paint applied with a steady hand, they are impossible to create quickly. As they are often representations of a particular place, they have boundaries and require a meticulous order. Painted on large canvas, objects are flattened into shapes and colours are simplified, creating graphic works that are bold yet meditative, calm and grounding.
