There have been a number of times in my creative life when synchronicity has been magically evident. Recently I watched the artist Margo (www.margoinmargate.com and www.helmgallery.com sorry wouldn't link) interviewed on television, she was having her first one-woman show, and she walked into the gallery and declared ‘Oh my goodness…it’s so colourful!’ Like me, she had never before seen all her artwork in one place. Her experience up until then was, a piece or two hung in a joint show. I never had a studio large enough to have paintings lined up around the wall, I inhabited small spaces and work was either sold, hidden in my plan chest or stacked behind furniture. That is until I decided to photograph them to make an art Instagram account @patriciamullinartist1560 When I saw my work there, I too was taken aback – I really had no idea that my body of work was so bright, bold, and impactful.
I worked as a textile designer, and when you spend every day working on exquisite, colourful, patterned florals you demand a visual break. I think if anyone were to describe my décor and style of dress they might say, restful or subdued – I don’t stand out in a crowd. Pale neutrals and deep blue are favourites for clothes, and in my current cottage F&B White Tie, with only one room, my study, in colour and that is my own mixed-up version of a soft ochre, yellow. and white. So, when I saw my paintings on Instagram I was stunned, I had no idea they were so colourful.
A lot of my Norfolk friends don’t know that in London, and quite by accident, I became an illustrator. I had an agent and I would receive a brief from the magazine or newspaper, work was sent by motorbike courier and off it went. In 1990 I moved to Norwich and with that move I thoughtlessly ended my illustration career. Hard to believe but we barely had email let alone images online or sent down the line. In Norwich, I did the first ever ‘open studio’ with my artist friend and neighbour Judith Vondrak, who lived at the opposite end of the terrace, later as ‘Opposite Ends and Friends’ we included artist friends and my cousin the late Antony Pearce FRSA, an accomplished and well-known watercolour artist. In 1995 I had begun writing and that took over.
Quite suddenly I got the urge to paint once more and I am loving the process - handling the art implements, drawing and mixing paint, also being able to listen to music and podcasts while I work. I am grateful to have found, my skills with paint, though rusty, remain. And what a relief to untether from a computer screen. A colourful still life was recently selected for the Sir John Hurt Prize and exhibited at the Holt exhibition, and now I have gallery interest. Most of all, I love the fact that I have surprised myself.
I worked as a textile designer, and when you spend every day working on exquisite, colourful, patterned florals you demand a visual break. I think if anyone were to describe my décor and style of dress they might say, restful or subdued – I don’t stand out in a crowd. Pale neutrals and deep blue are favourites for clothes, and in my current cottage F&B White Tie, with only one room, my study, in colour and that is my own mixed-up version of a soft ochre, yellow. and white. So, when I saw my paintings on Instagram I was stunned, I had no idea they were so colourful.
A lot of my Norfolk friends don’t know that in London, and quite by accident, I became an illustrator. I had an agent and I would receive a brief from the magazine or newspaper, work was sent by motorbike courier and off it went. In 1990 I moved to Norwich and with that move I thoughtlessly ended my illustration career. Hard to believe but we barely had email let alone images online or sent down the line. In Norwich, I did the first ever ‘open studio’ with my artist friend and neighbour Judith Vondrak, who lived at the opposite end of the terrace, later as ‘Opposite Ends and Friends’ we included artist friends and my cousin the late Antony Pearce FRSA, an accomplished and well-known watercolour artist. In 1995 I had begun writing and that took over.
Quite suddenly I got the urge to paint once more and I am loving the process - handling the art implements, drawing and mixing paint, also being able to listen to music and podcasts while I work. I am grateful to have found, my skills with paint, though rusty, remain. And what a relief to untether from a computer screen. A colourful still life was recently selected for the Sir John Hurt Prize and exhibited at the Holt exhibition, and now I have gallery interest. Most of all, I love the fact that I have surprised myself.
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