My current work is a direct response to observations of the natural world through my own photography. The photographs provide me with permanent imagery with which to work, placing strong emphasis on its original aesthetic value. This method is also accountable for the strong photographic elements within each piece, most notably the varied focal lengths.
Each painting aims to challenge the observer into accepting an unaccustomed view of nature and appreciating it in a way that would not have been considered before. The size of the paintings and the ‘upfrontness’ of the subject introduce an element of confrontation. This, coupled with the extra charge of colour, makes the familiar shapes become almost seductive against their deep backgrounds.
In my home studio, I apply oil paint to each canvas from one side to the other allowing for the boundarines of the colours to blur into each other. With this technique it is imperative that the paint is applied wet on wet. Strong vertical elements in the larger paintings not only aid in creating depth and perspective but also break the canvas up into manageable sections. I use watercolour brushes to provide finer brush stroskes resulting in meticulous photo-realism.
Rebecca Herrington grew up in rural Kent and now resides in the country with her young family in West Sussex. Her environment has always been important to her and played a part in her application to study Fine Art Painting at Bath Spa University College. Here she achieved a first class degree producing photorealist paintings fom photographs taken mostly from the beautiful surroundings she found there. She worked on developing a technique with oil paint that enabled blurring and blending alongside finer detail. Rebecca took influence from the Dutch masters, their still life depictions and their imposing use of light and shadow.
