‘Paint Fit’ was a course that I invented in February 2021. The idea grew out of a realisation that many artists have the time, a studio space but sometimes lack the self belief, a routine and momentum to really push on with their work through the difficult stages. The support of like minded people helps, but having a Paint Fit ‘coach’ to get them going and not allow them to lose their focus and ambition seemed to be the missing ingrediant.

For an hour each morning, online, over 2 weeks I talked, motivated, demonstrated and gave them tools and processes to help them use the resources that they already had. I unpacked the process and stages of making a body of work. After the hour together we were warmed up and ready to spend the rest of the day in our studios working in a focused, positive way. We had made the commitment to be uncompromising and playful; open to the new possibilities of what might come up as we worked.

In February 2022 I taught Paint Fit again and worked with some wonderful artists who were very open and excited to be part of a group that shared and supported one another. This online exhibition shows how the course inspired them and has continued to feed their practise and help them make the paintings that they wanted to do. We still meet and encourage each other to be brave, bold and ambitious with our painting.

I will be teaching another 2 week Paint Fit course from October 31st – November 4th and November 7th – 11th 2022. Further details can be found here.

Emily Ball August 2022

Emily Ball

Longing and Sweet Sadness

This body of work, with the theme of Longing and Sweet Sadness, is still ongoing. It began in November 2021 before a Paint Fit Course and continued during the last Paint Fit that we all did together in February 2022.

The work began as I drew and painted in the woods at the back of my parents house. This is where I played as a child, making camps and exploring. It is where I made huge paintings for my degree show after the hurricane of 1987, when I was in my early twenties. It is the place where my children played, camped and went on bluebell walks every year when they were small. It is where I walk now when I visit my mum, where we go mushroom hunting and gather kindling.

The things that I notice and love now are laden with my memories of all of these times. As I paint and draw I am not searching to paint the view but instead exploring a visual language that could give metaphors for moss and its sponginess under my feet. Phrases of marks that draw attention to the gentle, erratic, paper clatter of leaves falling. Piercing slats of amber light; luminous, looming, dimming, fading, draining away. The sap falling and rising, sleeping and waking; revealing the bare bones of the woodland weave. Then as the trees and undergrowth reclothe my gaze rises and falls, following the sounds of birdsong and tempting me into the plum soft shadows and hidden spaces.

I am hoping that this theme will continue to inspire and generate more work. I need to keep my courage up and push forward.

Monday, 15 August 2022
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Office

Emily Ball at Seawhite,
2 Downs View Road,
Seaford,
East Sussex,
BN25 4PT
Telephone: 01903 743 537
Email: admin@emilyballatseawhite.co.uk

Studio

Emily Ball at Seawhite
Seawhite Studio,
Star Road,
Partridge Green
West Sussex RH13 8RY
United Kingdom