Nowadays we do not immediately connect watercolor paintings with contemporary art; most of the time when we think watercolor media, we imagine a beautiful landscapes, possibly architectural paintings and illustrations in children’ books. However lately, this perception is being challenged by many contemporary artists who chose to use watercolor in a different way. One of these artists is Stephanie Tuckwell.
Tuckwell is a contemporary artist who lives and makes art in U.K. She studied at Goldsmiths London and has exhibited in the U.K. and internationally throughout her career. She is a recipient of several awards in numerous shows.
Stephanie works on a series of paintings simultaneously; this method prompts her to work quickly and directly. She often switches between drawing and painting in her art. Working on multiple surfaces at the same time allows the artist to shift her attention and intensity between spending more time on one work to working swiftly and sparingly on the other.
In her 2012 artist statement for one of the exhibits, Stephanie wrote, “My work is a response to movement through the landscape. It may be a glimpse from a train, a view from a mountaintop, being airborne in a glider, or standing on the edge of a cliff; I seek to arrive at an image that is a distillation of the experience of being present in the world at a particular moment. Using veils of paint, I create grounds and forms over which arrangements of marks dance across the surface and give a sense of time unfolding.”
Artists find inspiration in the environment around them. For Stephanie Tuckwell nature landscapes and movement inspire her to create beautiful yet eerie abstract watercolor paintings that have fluidity and mystery in them.
Reference Websites:
www.thedrawingsuite.com/stephanie-tuckwell.htm
www.griffingallery.co.uk/artists/stephanie-tuckwell
—Yekaterina Lepa
Yekaterina Lepa is an art teacher at Marva J Daniel Futures Preparatory School #37 who is currently finishing her graduate studies in Educational Technology Program at SUNY Buffalo State.