Shy, oils on stretched and framed canvas, size: 122 by 91cm.

Shy is from my series of paintings titled ,
A Journey Through The Female Emotions.

These series of paintings were inspired by the emotions in which I encountered when I began my newly married life in Australia. 

It began two years ago when I moved here from the UK to live with my Australian husband. Through this journey I experienced a range of emotions, from melancholy/ forlornness, as I was moving far from my family and good friends, to joy and happiness as I was together with my partner again after having been parted overseas for fifteen months.

I chose to express these emotions through my art. I feel that while painting this series I have come to discover myself more and what my insecurities are.

Shy

Life can be a struggle when you have the intervention of shyness. It can be harder to fit in and succeed your goals. My own experience of shyness came from a lack of confidence and I found the easiest way to gain it back was to learn how to love myself.

This is one of my favourite paintings as it helped me to overcome and admit to one of my weaknesses.

The loose style in the background is influenced by the style of the French painter Raoul Duffy.

I started to study painting at the age of sixteen when I attended my local sixth form college English Martyrs, in my home town of Hartlepool, North East England. I took exceptional interest in painting figures, especially the female form. At the age of eighteen I went on to study fine art at the Cleveland College of Art and Design, also in Hartlepool; then to Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge where I studied a Combined Arts Degree.

My art is about the inner beauty of the human form. There is the visual beauty, such as the beautiful curves of the female figures or the grace in which a woman can hold herself, but there is also the emotion and passion within. In order to capture their personalities and feelings, I get to know my models whilst I paint them. I then show their characteristics through the experimentation of colour and form.

My music is also a very important part of me. I started to play the piano at the age of six and throughout my childhood won various prizes at music competitions around the North East of England. I have taught in many schools including The Northern School of Music in England and am currently teaching from my residence in Sydney.

Please visit website for more details:

www.virtuoso-arts.com