I have always been inspired by the colour and texture of both landscapes and objects. As a child I drove my family to distraction with the contents of my pockets - collections found and used for spontaneous exhibitions at the dinner table or on my bedroom window sill. I still remain true to this tradition yet use paint to fuse both memories and experience, which are suspended within the painted layers. Continuing to hoard the unusual from old teapots to rusty keys, these all play a part as props in my work either borrowing their history or lending their form, a spark for my imagination. I have followed a fairly traditional path; degree, job, marriage, children, teaching, and post grad. At 41 its now time to move forward with my own work; to take risks, allow time for contemplation, be bold and to return making those window sill exhibitions that I got so much pleasure from as a child.
"I try to depict a specific experience with high texture, multilayers of paint and words hidden or reworked often by sanding and scratching as I drive to express the concept in my mind though always, as with life, expecting things to change along the way"
"Charlie O'Sullivan is one of the brightest new talents to emerge amongst South West artists. She has always been influenced by her northern upbringing and love of the sea. Now living in West Devon she is greatly inspired by windswept coves and moorland in Devon and Cornwall. Her work has become a fusion of images , stories and experiences, past and present. This can straddle a multitude of happenings such as walks, her children, music or poetry melded with a landscape or event.
Of late, emotion has become a strong factor as her work has settled into depicting stories generated by a specific moment in time.
This powerful set of paintings have been prepared for this, her first major show following rapid success at Steam Gallery and art fairs. Each painting is accompanied by key words embodying feelings and emotions Charlie has tried to express in each work.
Mike Lambert Marine and Steam Galleries Aug.2009
