Koi on Black/Gold Painting

Lily has been painting professionally since 2006, exhibiting widely throughout the UK during that time, and now features in collections worldwide - including Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Australia. Lily exhibited overseas for the first time in 2012, with two shows in Barcelona, and one in Amsterdam. She now works from her studio on a sheep farm in Cumbria, just to the north of the Lake District. Lily's work reflects a love of nature. Her original paintings are often inspired by multitudes in nature (flocks, shoals, gatherings...) and the flow of that multitude, in glorified representations. Lily’s paintings usually employ an element of collage material, however rather than found material, Lily uses paper copies of her own painting or printmaking studies. Koi fish, for example, are meticulously hand-painted, then reproduced, cut, and arranged in a composition on the canvas. Washes of inks are applied, and sometimes additional painted or drawn details, before a clear gloss varnish secures the work and adds an opulent lustre. Work is often oriental in style; Lily is greatly influenced by the colours and aesthetics of eighteenth century printmakers such as Hokusai and Hiroshige, and Japanese kimono design. Lily is interested in finding out what it takes to create an appealing aesthetic - how to create a 'flow' and an energy. For Lily this means a search for balance and beauty. Overall her aims are simple – to create something the viewer can take enjoyment from. Lily is happy to discuss commissioned pieces.