As a British-born artist living in Gloucestershire Adele Riley is surrounded by some of the most natural and inspiring surroundings in the UK, well-placed to benefit from a huge variety of light, texture, and drama – perfect for motivation.
Riley usually begins by sensing the subject, sometimes using a photo or a sketch to extract weather, light, horizons and shapes to commit the scene to the canvas with a variety of media and paint. When it comes to the subject, Riley is as happy looking for an expansive coastline, packed woodland or open fields every bit as much as getting in close to a feeding blackbird, a butterfly settling, or flowers budding. The most important ingredient is finding the emotion of the scene offered by the light and atmosphere of the moment.
What Riley fears most is repetition, so she experiments a lot with media and colour, asking questions of the fresh and the new, trying things out (getting things wrong), but all the time learning and looking to improve.
Having studied Illustration at Epsom School of Art, Riley has continued to learn and develop from her experiences and travels. She found not having a formal art grounding a positive thing, as I could appreciate painting with its many disciplines. Learning by challenging the rules of fine art, as well as applying them. It helped drive her enthusiasm until Riley arrived at a style of painting that represents her as an artist.
In addition to painting, Riley teaches art to adults and children in Gloucester and in surrounding local schools.
Self-taught or art school?
I originally trained as a fashion designer and illustrator at Epsom School of Art, working within the industry for some time and various other careers, I wasn’t fulfilled, I’d always painted and eventually picked up my brushes professionally again only 2 years ago. I am a primarily self-taught artist.
If you could own one work of art, what would it be?
If I could own one piece of art it would have to be Sewing the Sail by Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla. I first came across Sorolla as a child and his impressionistic storytelling absolutely captivated me, hours and hours have been spent staring at many of his works since. His works are still is a constant inspiration for me. I have a fascination for capturing light, colour and luminosity within my work and Sorolla is for me the king of this.
How would you describe your style?
My style I would struggle to pin down, I think, due to being self-taught and always curious, this gifts me the freedom to try new media, tools and styles. I’m like a magpie and love to collect ideas and try them out if they work I keep them! At a push, I would describe myself as impressionistic realism and a colourist.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
My artistic process is generally the same for every painting, to start I always work loosely with inks and water sprays and let the chaos this creates inform me of where this painting wants to go, I’ve learnt not to fight or try and control this part. I work with many layers of coloured inks, allowing the light in my work to gradually shine through. This early chaotic part of my process Is extremely important, it’s loose, fun and full of mistakes, this is where the magic lies! I then work into my paintings with mark-making, scratching, thicker paints using palette knives and my fingers. I paint partly from sketches but mostly intuitively, recalling a sense of place, sound and feel of the place I paint is vital, the connection to the viewer lies here. If I don’t feel the magic, the painting doesn’t leave my studio.
Is narrative important in your art?
A narrative is important within my work, but my aim is for the viewer to create their own narrative. There is a strong subconscious connection we have with art, I feel colour plays a big part in this connection, people are instinctively drawn to colours as much as they are to the subject matter.
What and who inspires your art?
My inspiration comes from a huge variety of things, as I’ve said, I’m like a magpie.
I collect inspiration constantly and store them all in my sketchbooks and my studio. From the physical treasures like a stone or a poem to the sketches I do of the amazing countryside I live in, my walks in forests, the trees I love and constantly paint, the sea I constantly long for!
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
I have recently moved house, home and studio! My new studio is now in big, bright south facing room in a three-storey old Victorian house. I love to work from home so this fits in with family life perfectly. I paint odd hours, so when inspiration hits me I can take myself off to my studio whether this means 3 am or 10 pm. I paint mainly on the floor and on my wall, with inks and water and lots of splashes, so it gets pretty messy after a while. The old studio I have just left was built in the garden by my husband. I miss this special place!
Do you have studio rituals?
My studio rituals are pretty odd really, I have to be barefoot, I always talk to my paintings during the process, I have to arrange my brushes in order of favourites before I start, and I have to have music.
What are you working on currently?
I’m currently working on three collections, all different subject matter and different approach. These works will in various exhibitions and my solo exhibition planned for 2021. The first collection is called Scintilla and is a semi-abstract collection, the second is a collection of larger works based on murmurations and the third collection is a series of woodland scapes. I’m constantly painting land and seascapes but also working on a body of work for The Affordable Art Fair in Battersea next year with Wychwood Art.
You can find my works on my website www.adeleriley.com
Instagram Adele Riley Art and Wychwood Art Gallery
