My walk on Bridlington seafront caused me to encounter a small local open exhibition, free of charge, how could I resist?! When viewing the artwork I was amazed in particular by the work of Katherine McDermid who created intricately detailed works in mixed media. Her distinct style caught my eye immediately, especially a cheeky comical-faced lady balancing a stack of cupcakes in her hands definitely put a smile on my face. It gives me great pleasure to be able to show you this piece and one other that intrigued me, given permission to show you all by the artist herself!
(sorry about the reflection it was a very sunny day!)
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| Stacked seagulls 1 Mixed media Katherine McDermid |
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| Stacked cupcakes 2 Mixed media Katherine McDermid |
Talking with the artist
I felt particularly lucky when I found these works of art as the artist herself was present! This gave me an opportunity to find more about McDermid as an artist and it had also become apparent we both had been to see the Martin Creed exhibition! (See previous post http://carlataylorillustration.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-gallery-visit-martin-creed-or-crude.html)
First of all we talked about the artist's works and what type of media she used. I was even more impressed when I gained the knowledge that these pieces were created entirely from her head! Pen and ink were the primary bases of her pieces, with watercolour and finished with coloured pencils. McDermid's level of professionalism stood out for me here as from afar her works could easily be mistaken for digital. I had found out that this mistake had occurred previously which she then went on to amusingly explain how she has a lack of computer skills!
McDermid also expressed how she had a 'down' moment in her art career where she was struggling for buyers (hard to believe!) and actually sent several of her old pieces to the tip! As a budding illustrator myself I could empathise with her on a certain level but was glad to see she had recovered her self belief as an artist and still creates beautiful pieces today!
Inspirations
It was interesting to find out some of the inspiration McDermid uses in her work to create her unique style. One of her main inspirations resides from everyday life and observing her surroundings. Often her work is based on true life and overhearing conversations between strangers. This idea of her work being spontaneous and forming from completely random events is very intriguing as the subject of the artwork is not determined by the artist herself, but the conversations she hears at the time.
Overall, I was so pleased to have discovered an extremely talented LOCAL artist with current and modern work. As a person, McDermid was very pleasant to speak to and happily shared her past and current experiences as an artist. To see an artists work and to engage with an artist them-self can completely change one's perception of a particular piece or series. For me, this made me appreciate the work even more knowing that such a nice person had created them!
I would definitely recommend having a look at Katherine McDermid's creations to all art and non-art lovers out there!
More of her work and history as an artist can be found on her website http://katherinemcdermid.com/index.htm Go check it out!
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