Samantha Willoughby

samwilloughby_fineartist@hotmail.co.uk

Qualifications:

• 2005-2008 Painting, Fine Art Ba(Hons), University of Wales Institute Cardiff, 2:2 achieved.
• 2004-2005 Foundation Art and Design National Diploma, University College Falmouth. Pass achieved
• 2003-2004 A Levels, Kennet School, Thatcham Berkshire. C,D,E achieved.
• 2002-2003 As Levels, Kennet School, Thatcham, Berkshire, B,D achieved.
• 1997-2002 GCSE’S, Kennet School, Thatcham Berkshire, 2xA*’s, 4xA’s 4xB’s achieved.

Exhibitions:
• 2008 Thatcham Festival of Arts Charity Auction
• 2008 BA Degree Show University of Wales Institute Cardiff (U.W.I.C), Cardiff, Wales
• 2007 Solo Show Old Chequers Pub, Thatcham, Berkshire
• 2007 Group Show University of Wales Institute Cardiff (U.W.I.C)
• 2005 End of Year Show University Collage Falmouth, Falmouth, Cornwall
• 2004 Group Show Kennet School, Thatcham Berkshire

Statement of Art Work.

Art has always been an important part of my life. I was constantly drawing throughout my childhood, using colouring books and copying the covers of Disney videos. I’ve always had a very vivid imagination especially as a child and I tried to use it as much as possible to write stories, illustrate them myself and then take them to school for my teacher to read to the rest of the class. I love to draw animals, from the smallest of mice to the biggest of the big cats, especially lions, tigers and cheetahs.

My passion for painting really began when I was shown paintings from the masters such as Monet and Cézanne whilst still in primary school. Then when I moved to secondary school I was introduced to my favourite painting of all, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Vermeer. To me, this was art. This was something that I wanted to aspire to achieve in my own art work. The detail, the smoothness of her face and the concentration of light on the pearl and other points of the painting, all fascinated me. Once I started my degree I went to Amsterdam and from there we went to see the actual painting itself. I felt so lucky to stand in front of her and look at her properly for the first time.

Throughout all of my art work, Vermeer’s painting has been constantly in the back of my head, and it wasn’t until my final year that I found a way of bringing out this wonderful reference and using it to its potential.

For my final show I wanted to combine my love for big cats with the human form. It was an experiment to say the least, but it also brought about some interesting questions about who we are as humans. For the smaller paintings, I concentrated on just the head, making tight little brush marks that blended the colours together almost seamlessly. Blacking out the background and putting in one focal light source, just as Vermeer had done in his pieces all those centuries ago, made the pieces powerful and thought provoking. The larger pieces started to include more of the body. I wanted to keep the body as human as possible, with a few anatomical changes here and there. A tail and fur was always an essential part of the morphing process and the style in which they were painted changed too.

The brush strokes became broader and looser in places and I started adding backgrounds or habitats. The paintings started to get me thinking about the psychological aspects of why I was doing these pieces. Am I trying to bring out their basic animalistic qualities? The natural instincts of hunting. Some of us like our creature comforts of home, cups of tea and telly, some of us like the wild and rugged side of the great outdoors, campfires and finding your own food to survive. When you hand rear a lion or a tiger, you may think you have domesticated it. You can rub its tummy, feed them, love them, but you can never fully trust them. There is something deep down inside them that can trigger an attack and bring out the wild side of that tamed oversized pussy cat. The same can be said for our own pets. Your cats will go out and bring you the head of a dead mouse as a present. Could the same be for us? Survival is paramount If you could morph your genetics with any animal in the world, in your bid to survive, which animal would you choose?