The Twisted Tree Exhibition
24th July - Friday 6th August
An eclectic mix of oil paintings by pendeen artist:
Nicky Robinson
Artist's Statement
There are two things fundamental to who I am; One is that I am a Christian and the other is that I am an Artist. I am both of these things and they cannot be separated from who I am.
I was born in Plymouth in 1974 and in my late teens, attended Plymouth College of Art and Design where I completed a BTEC national diploma in art and design, specialising in fine art.
I did not get a place at university and have not yet gone on to get a degree. In due course, I went on to work for the National
Trust and study environmental conservation, this I did in the Lake District and learnt to love the detail and beauty of nature and the landscape.
I never gave up painting, although over the years the amount of work I produced decreased.
Since moving to Cornwall with my husband and his daughters, I have been working part time for Royal Mail and for many years I hardly painted at all; but this changed as just five weeks after the birth of my first daughter, Demelza, my Dad died from cancer. As he knew he was going to die he was able to leave a letter to his family in which he told us about how he had enjoyed his life and had made the most of it.
He told us to get on and do the things that were important to us, as life was not long enough to keep putting things off.
This letter from my Dad really gave me the motivation to get started again and during Easter 2008 when Demelza was just 19 months old, I held my first ever solo exhibition, 'Botallack Land Sea and Sky' at The Count house Botallack.
I now have another daughter, Morva, who is 10 months old. So during naps and any free evenings, I've been able to produce a new but eclectic mixture of work for my second solo exhibition, “The Twisted Tree”.
About my Work
My work is about the places and things that I see or the things that I believe in that make me take a deep breath and stand back in awe.
If I paint a landscape, I don't want to replicate what I see but paint something of the essence of what I see.
What I really love to do is paint; so I paint.
As you will see from this exhibition, there are no sketch books to show you, no drawings or prep work.
Balancing a young family, running a household and having a part time job makes having time to paint a rarity, so when I get the chance to paint, I paint.
For the time being my camera has taken the place of a sketchbook.
About the medium
I have worked in oil paints since Art college. I just find there are an abundance of ways I can work with them, from very thin, transparent layers where the paint is almost scrubbed into the canvas, to great thick layers of impasto, speedily applied with a pallet knife. And I love the smell of the linseed; it reminds me of being back at college.
Hopes for the future
To bring my children up well and for them to be happy. I would still like to get my degree some day too.
Alleluia
Carn Kenidijack
Peace