Busy, Busy, Busy… A Little Update From My Studio
Updated: Oct 5
It feels as though I've barely stopped this year.
There have been art fairs, exhibitions, new paintings, new collectors, familiar faces, commissions, ideas scribbled down for later and, somewhere amongst all of that, quite a lot of time spent in my studio actually painting!
So I thought it was probably time for a little update from me.
A Year of Art Fairs, and a Very Big Thank You
I've been fortunate to show my work at a number of art fairs and events this year, and one of the things I continue to love about them is meeting the people who actually live with my paintings.
Some are discovering my work for the first time. Others come over and tell me they already own a Gill Storr, which still gives me enormous pleasure.
To everyone who has stopped to talk, followed my work, visited an exhibition or art fair, bought a painting, commissioned something special or added another piece to their collection this year, thank you.
And to my returning collectors, some of whom now have several of my paintings, thank you for continuing on this journey with me.
An artist creates the work, but it's the collector who ultimately gives it a home and makes it part of another story.
I never forget that.
Something New Has Been Happening in the Studio…
I've also been very busy creating an entirely new body of work, my Icons Collection.
These paintings celebrate some of the faces and personalities that have become part of our collective cultural memory, figures from music, film and popular culture who are instantly recognisable, but whom I wanted to interpret in my own way.
As with all my work, I'm not interested in simply reproducing an image.
I want there to be something to discover.
Layers of photography, paint, typography, fragments of words, old headlines and references to the subject are built into the artwork, so the closer you look, the more the painting begins to reveal.
I've loved creating them. They feel bold, nostalgic, contemporary and just a little rebellious.
And there are more coming.
The Rest of the Year? Commissions, Commissions, Commissions…
The studio diary for the coming months is already looking rather full.
I'm currently working through a wonderful collection of private commissions, including some particularly personal pieces being created for special anniversaries and landmark birthdays.
You know who you are! These are some of the commissions I enjoy most because there's usually a story behind them. A particular place. A honeymoon. A favourite city. Somewhere a couple has returned to throughout their lives. A memory that means absolutely everything to one family and perhaps nothing at all to anybody else.
Taking those photographs, stories and memories and turning them into an original painting is an enormous privilege.
It also means that if you're considering commissioning something special for Christmas, an anniversary or a significant birthday, please don't leave it until the last minute.
Original paintings take time, and there are only so many studio hours between now and the end of the year!
A Few Things You Might Not Know About My Art Journey
My route to becoming a full time artist wasn't perhaps the conventional one.
I originally studied at art college before moving into the world of graphic design and eventually spending many years in the creative and marketing industry.
I went on to become the founder, CEO and Creative Director of my own design and marketing agency.
Looking back, I can see that so much of what I learned during those years still finds its way into my paintings.
Typography. Composition. Photography. The relationship between an image and a piece of text. Knowing when something needs to be added and, perhaps more importantly, when something needs to be taken away.
All of those instincts eventually became part of the visual language I use today.
The difference is that now there isn't a client standing behind me asking me to move the logo five millimetres to the left!
And Then There's the Photography…
Another thing people don't always realise is just how important photography is to my work.
Many of my paintings begin with places I've actually experienced and photographed myself.
I might take dozens of photographs and use fragments from several of them before a painting begins to emerge.
Then come the paint, texture, layers and all the inevitable changes along the way.
The finished piece isn't intended to be a photographic record of somewhere.
It's about what that place felt like to me.
And perhaps that's why collectors often find their own memories within them too.
Still Evolving
That's probably what excites me most at the moment. My work continues to evolve. From the cityscapes and places that have become such an important part of my practice, to On the Water, the new rowing works and now the developing Icons Collection, each new direction still feels unmistakably connected to everything that came before it.
I'm never quite sure where an idea will lead.
And I rather like it that way.
For now, though, it's back into the studio.
There are paintings waiting, commissions to finish, new ideas everywhere and nowhere near enough hours in the day.
Busy, busy, busy…
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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