BECKY BLAIR
New Work: Nature, Awe, Art & Identity
Becky is a multi-media artist, based in Brighton, combining paint and embroidery on canvas. Her artworks are a distillation of what captivates and inspires her. She finds magic in things that other people might pass by, the ordinary and imperfection of daily life. Flea markets and second-hand shops, places where you might find treasures; opening forgotten boxes to rediscover things from the past. Becky is particularly drawn to vintage textiles and more recently in the arts and crafts from pre-history and how humans evolved to be creative.
The process of each painting is patient and meditative, they can’t be rushed. Becky head into each canvas with no clear path, taking my time as the raw canvas leaves little room for adjustment. In the last few years she has been nurturing my lifelong passion for textiles and have been learning a variety of fibre crafts including free warp tapestry, knotted netting, looping, split-ply weaving and embroidery.
There is a sense of communing with creativity, channelling the simplest of intentions and seeing where it leads. Using an abstract language of personal motifs and found shapes, Becky sees these works as conversations; an abstract language conversing inwardly and outwardly. There is space for the viewer to be invited in to play, explore and interpret.
At its core her work is always striving towards joy, play and connection - the attributes that bring out the best in humanity.
Becky originally from the Midlands and having completed a Fine Art degree in Cheltenham in 1994 she spent most of her twenties divided between travel and creating commissioned artwork for public commercial spaces. She later evolved her travels to incorporate regular solo shows of her artwork in Australia and the UK as well as taking part in Art Fairs worldwide.
Over these three decades of creating her artworks Becky’s work has also been used in collaborations with fine art publishers, advertising campaigns, book covers and illustration. Collaborations include Ikea, Habitat, Toyota, Bonnie Prince Billy, Australian fashion brand Gorman and Sussex potter Rachel Entwistle.
Photo: Jo Thorne Photography
Becky's paintings take me on travels and adventures and away from the hum drum of daily life.
The quality of Becky Blair's paintings is undeniable. Her colours bring my home alive and make it look fresh and vibrant. We love her work and will be looking for another one soon.
AVAILABLE PAINTINGS
STUDIO
East facing light floods in and you are high enough that nothing overlooks to distract your eyes. Even on an overcast day, the space is well lit and welcoming.
I've worked with Becky for many years and always reslish spending time with her in her workspace. It's efficient and organised but homely, with a sofa and books, a kettle and favourite things. A home from her very lovely home.
Conversation flows easily as Becky is a long-time friend as well as a colleague so we jump around topics from art to family to dancing and back again.
Becky is finishing a commission when I visit. There are finished pieces for me to see and canvases in progress, leaning up against walls or drying flat on the floor. There is also a table of small works in the process of being framed up for the gallery.
Becky's paintings are always one step ahead of the crowd. She is not an artist to stick to the same story yet her colour palette and technique are instantly recognisible, regardless of her subject matter. Birds, beaches, landscapes or abstracts: compositions created with the use of complex underpainting, glazes and confident use of colour.
Customers regularly come back wanting the work which we were showing 12 months previously, which they have been thinking about all this time. But those paintings have not only found new homes but if they were Australian inspired beach scenes then Becky will have moved onto Sussex lily ponds. Indian crowd scenes to bird-filled trees. Vibrant gardens to the minutiae of childhood treasures.