Becky Blair delights in exuberant colours, focussing on the joys of a coastal summer playground in her distinctive abstracted style. We invite you to get to know the artist in our Up Close & Personal Q&A feature below.

Enjoy getting to know Becky Blair

When did you first feel the desire to be artistic and realize you had talent?

I have always loved using my imagination and being expressive. As a kid I loved both dancing and art. Over time art was the passion I wanted to purse in education, and doing a foundation and degree in Art was where I really found the freedom to explore my love of colour that continues today. At art school it was drummed into us that it would be years before we had the talent to create anything that could be considered art, this may sound harsh but it definitely took the pressure off and made exploring and experimenting the key focus. It has taken me till my 40’s to really rate the skills I now have after 30 years of practice.

Where did you learn your art?

I studied my fine art degree at Cheltenham and Gloucester College. But learning art is a constant pursuit, I am always learning. That’s part of the striving to create something that has value. Travelling has taught me aout colour, and my daily practice has taught me about mark making and composition. As well just seeing the world and soaking up and the interesting corners that excite me.

What inspires you the most?

Travel and summer have always played a huge part in the narrative of my paintings but what lays closer to my heart is the play of colour and using that to create sensation and ignite in other people a sense of remembering.

What message are you sending to the viewer of your art?

Joy, I hope. I want people to feel uplifted and connected. To see in my images something that sparks of their own memories.

Describe your studio

Its high up on the fourth floor of a 1950’s Brutalist building. Away from street noise, with big windows. It faces south east so gets the morning sun and is warm. Its messy in a tidy way, paint splatters everywhere and a comfy sofa to sit on where I do a lot of thinking. A place of peace where I can be free of all other distractions and tap into that headspace that is sometimes referred to as the Flow State. I love being there.

Describe your typical day of creating art

Coffee! Get some emails done, find a good podcast. Then just start looking at where I am at with the work and planning what needs to be worked on. I spend a lot of time looking and puzzling out what the path is. Sometimes it presents itself quickly and other times is a painful wrestling match that can be very frustrating!

What mediums do you use and why?

I mostly work in acrylic as I have used them since my college days and have worked out how to create some really beautiful effects and I understand how to layer and mix them better than any other medium. I also use oils and soft pastels- just depends on what it is I am looking to create.

What are you working on now?

I am preparing for my artist open house this May in Brighton UK. I am creating a new collection of paintings inspired by the coast of the south east where I live. I love collecting shell pieces and bit of old flint and chalk that are worn down by the sea. As well as the shapes of seaweed, and beach flora. It has quite a desolate feel, open and free and beautiful. Its early days so I have no idea where it will lead me!

What are your recent career achievements you feel proud of?

My collaboration with Gorman last summer was pretty huge for me- that was a dream come true! Being the Cover Artist for Brightons Artist Open House festival and nearly winning the best artist open house award!! But to be honest the most amazing thing is that I get to do the thing I love most in the world as my job – people respond so positively to what I like doing and that makes me very happy.

What do you love most about what you do?

I definitely like being the master of my own ship, so being a self employed artist means I get to follow my heart and make work I believe in. I love showing my work and seeing how happy it makes people feel.

Where can you see yourself in 10 years time?

Still painting! Hopefully travelling more frequently as well!

Artist Statement

Becky Blair’s lively and eclectic style, combined with her vivid use of colour and dream-like reflections, has seen her highly-sought-after work sold through exhibitions and private commissions internationally. Her paintings evolve through a complex layering of glazes, textures, drawing and printing. Her compositions are formed from pools of overlapping colour, and the use of negative space, adding and taking away elements to create a surface that has its own history.

Known as an artist who sees the beauty in things which may otherwise seem ordinary, she draws inspiration from the everyday, as well as her travels through India, Australia and Europe. Becky made a home in Brighton in 1997 after spending her twenties travelling, and undertaking regular commissions for the Pizza Express chain. This allowed her time to grow as an artist, and be inspired by the wonders of India, Nepal, South East Asia and Australia. Trekking through the Himalayas, riding pillion on an Enfield Bullet from Southern India to Katmandu were some of her many adventures. And along the way making friends that were to shape her future as an artist in later years.

Meeting Cat Read, a design publicist in a guesthouse in Nepal was the beginning of a long love affair with Western Australia. Cat proposed in return for a painting, she would secure a gallery and generate the publicity required for a solo exhibition in Perth, WA. Becky’s first show with the Gadfly Gallery was a huge undertaking and a steep learning curve, but ultimately a huge success. Becky has now undertaken 6 sell out solo shows over the past 10 years and has a loyal following that relish her vibrant, and unique style.

When traveling, Becky’s interest lies in the sights and scenarios that reveal a true sense of place. Her paintings reflect the experience, rather than the visage, allowing viewers to share in the moment. In some images, one can note a suggestion of indigenous motifs but it is rather an appreciation than appropriation as Blair celebrates all subjects with her unique view. When she isn’t in Australia, Becky lives in Brighton with her husband and daughter. Working out of her studio at the Phoenix, she creates work for galleries throughout the UK, and is commissioned by collectors worldwide.

Solo Shows

May 2013 Bound To The Rush, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
September 2012 New Paintings, Ingo Fincke, London, UK
March 2011 Standing On Tiptoe, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
May 2009 New Paintings and Prints, Castor and Pollox, Brighton, UK
December 2008 Between You And Me, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
May 2008 While You Were Sleeping, HQ Gallery, Lewes, UK
March 2008 Desperately Seeking Summer, Cosa Gallery, London, UK
December 2006 Backseat Fiction, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
December 2004 When The Wild Things Bloom, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
March 2003 Barefoot In The Supermarket, Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia

Group Shows

November 2014, 15 Artist Open Houses Fremantle, Perth, Australia
August 2013 Ingo Fincke, London, UK
July 2012 The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle, UK
December 2011 Ingo Fincke, London, UK
December 2011 Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
July 2010 Caxton Gallery, Whitstable, UK
May 2010 Hybrid Gallery, Devon, UK
April 2010 Caxton Gallery, Whitstable, UK
December 2009 Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
December 2009 Catto Gallery, Hamstead, London UK
April 2009 Artizan Ediitions, London, UK
June 2008 Wills Art Warehouse, London, UK
August 2007 HQ Gallery, Lewes, UK
June 2005 Lewes Contemporary Art and Star Gallery, Lewes, UK
June 2004 Gaslight Gallery, Mougins, France
December 2003 Gadfly Gallery, Perth, Australia
October 2002 Chapel of St Pierre D’Orival, Laroque Timbaut, France
July 2001 Berrima District Arts Society, Merrima, Australia
June 1997 Earl Of Smith Gallery, Leamington Spa, UK

Art Fairs

January 2008 -London Art Fair, London UK
March 2004 – 2016 -Battersea Affordable Arts Fair, London UK
May 2005-2015 -Brighton Fringe Festival, UK
May 2007-2015 -Bristol Affordable Arts Fair, UK
June 2008 – New York Affordable Art Fair, USA
June 2006 – Sydney Art Fair, Australia
October 2011-2015 – Hampstead Affordable Art Fair, London, UK
October 2010-2011 – Fulham Art Fair, London, UK
November 2007-2008 – Edinburgh Art Fair, UK
November 2007 – Amsterdam The Affordable Arts Fair, Holland

Other

Winter 2014 TeNeues – licensing of art work, publishing and distributing a boxset of Becky Blair floral notelets, UK and USA
Autumn 2012 Aquarelle – licensing of art work, publishing and distributing a range of Becky Blair hand signed small edition fine art prints, UK
Spring 2011 Faber – licensing or art work, commissioned portrait used for cover of a book of interviews with Will Oldham, Internationally.
August 2007 Art Group – licensing of art work, licensing of 2 paintings to Art Group for their poster print range, Worldwide
October 2006 Art Group – licensing of art work, licensing of 2 paintings to Art Group for a note-let range, UK and USA.
February 2006 Duncan and Baird Publishers – Illustration, 13 illustrations for the “Mind Body Spirit” 2007 calendar, London UK
April 2005 Toyota – Advertising, Image licensed to Toyota for a motor sales promo, LA, USA
February 2005 Duncan and Baird Publishers – Illustration, 17 illustration for a book about angels, London, UK
May 2003 Capel Vale Winery – Wine Label Design, paintings and logo for “Blue Manna” series, WA Australia
1995-2005 Pizza Express – Commissions, artwork commissioned for restaurants nationwide and internationally, UK and International.