Rose Woodland

My love of art started when I was very young.  We always had pencils and paper to play with, and I enjoyed drawing as realistically as possible.​ My early work is almost entirely pencil, coloured pencil and gouache.  The big cats have always been an inspiration.



For many years, I was unable to indulge in art due to the pressures of work.  However, when I retired I started to learn how to use acrylic paint and quickly grew to love it.  I produced several paintings of animal subjects, but always found it difficult to choose suitable backgrounds for them. 

 

While recovering from a serious illness, I discovered various acrylic pouring techniques.  I am indebted to Annemarie Ridderhof for her countless demonstrations and enthusiasm in teaching these to others.  I have now learned to combine these two passions by adding realistic animal portraits to poured backgrounds.

​'Random' pours
I love the way acrylic pouring can itself provide the inspiration for a finished work.  I call these 'random' pours, in that I limit my control of the outcome to the colours chosen.  It can sometimes take several months to 'see' how to incorporate the main subject of the painting into the initial pour, but I think these often turn out to be the best.  This  random technique keeps my work fresh and is a constant inspiration to me.  It pushes me towards paintings I would never otherwise have imagined.

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Controlled pours

At the same time, with practice, it is possible to control the pour to build abstract landscapes which give a fairytale feeling which would be impossible to produce with any other technique. 

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Unembellished pours

Sometimes, too, the pour has a beauty all of its own, and does not need any further embellishment. 

 

My work now encompasses random pours, with and without embellishment, and controlled pours, also with and without embellishment.