On display from Grace Engel will be large and small paintings, from landscapes to dreamscapes in rich combinations of collage and acrylics drawing on archetypal symbols, inspired by human stories, the environment, and the elements. Recent displays include the Totterdown, Front Room, art trail , the arts house café on stokes croft and a permanent exhibition of work at Clifton Bazaar on Whiteladies rd.

Grace has run a business painting and drawing portraits to commission since 2007 while teaching workshops, and producing limited edition prints and hand assembled cards of her paintings. Grace has been sharing with 6 other Artists as part of the Round table studio collective located in the loft at 104 Whiteladies rd, Clifton Bazaar indoor market since January 2009. 

As well as being inspired by the countryside for all the organic forms and textures, Grace loves the
city for its multicultural intensity and creativity which feeds her love of exploration. The textures and accidental patterns found in the roughness and decay of walls and old bill board postings form sometimes accidentally beautiful ever changing patterns mirroring the layering of histories and journeys. Artist Grace says "I am exploring the influence of situations, belief systems and the elements." Her interests translate in subject matter as images of interlocking figures sometimes forming words, emphasising the poetry and symbolism of human interaction. Her chosen colour range has emerged over time mostly intuitively. And she often use Collage and Texture to convey a sense of time and place or atmosphere. Varied influences over time range from people, the environment, Religious Iconography, the old masters, through to graphic novels and contemporary Bristol graffiti.

To see more of Grace's work visit her website or email her at [email protected]. You can also find Grace at all of our spring/summer markets!

Painting for me is about the process of creating and having fun. I make a mark on the canvas and just allow my intuition to guide me until it feels that a painting is finished. Inspiration hits me on daily basis from very differentiated fields. It can be the way a tree has grown. A piece of music. A sense of time, or simply how the paint has flaked off on the side of a disused building. What has become clear however, is an awareness for me to be open to inspiration and then to store it inside spiritually. Whilst painting I tap into this source like it was a reservoir, one little crack in the wall brings forth a flood of ideas which erupt onto the canvas. 
I like using as much colour and texture in my work as possible to create a beautiful painting for the viewer. Using various paint, ink, spray paint and collage techniques to achieve this. My abstract means of application is meant to inspire a viewers imagination in the same way that I am inspired by the world. I never intend to push the viewer into a desired angle of interpretation and because of this I keep my work untitled.

Find Mark on facebook or at any or all of our Summer Markets this year!