Em Hoten Art
Website:
@emhotenart
Winter Silence
Ballgames on Bournemouth Beach
Coastal Cliff Walk
Biography
My contemporary oil paintings are a fusion of atmosphere, experiment and memory. Using the landscape around me, I draw upon memories of a time and an emotion to overlay into the overall sense of place. Through atmospheric effects and whatever tool will enable me to portray my vision in unusual ways, I want to capture the connectivity and the beauty of nature and the calming influence that it can bring to the soul. Simultaneously, I’m thinking about colours, contrast and composition and how to create movement and texture in my work.
I want my work to leave viewers with deep stillness and peace, allowing them to pause a while and breathe.
inspiration
I remember standing at the top of a waterfall on a windy day. I outstretched my arms and listened to the thunder of the water below and the howl of the wind as it swirled around me, and felt the power of Mother Nature.
This power is evident even in calmness and stillness. In the shaft of light that pierces the gloom and pinpoints a spot of warm yellow light on a hillside. In the first green shoots of spring. In the sudden swoosh of an owl at dusk as he goes hunting. It's the resilience of life in the face of adversity.
That is what inspires my art.
medium
I paint using oils and cold wax medium to allow me to experiment with techniques, deliberate marks and happy accidents to get to the poetic sense that is particularised in a sensation that I am really excited about, using the most compelling ingredients that I have to hand in the dish. Brushes are my last resort, preferring to use silicone tools, sticks, sponges, knives and sometimes even 'stamps' carved out of potatoes if it will give me the shape I need.
Cold wax mixed with medium allows me to express my art through vibrancy of colour, layers of transparency and marks that evoke a memory or a sense of place.