Collection: Yvonne Coomber

Artist Statement

I am both a romantic and a believer. I work very intuitively and instinctively, creating a space in which I allow the image to evolve and unravel.

My practice demands that I am courageous and openhearted and it always involves risk. It is an eternal search for truth. I feel things with a burning intensity and my canvas provides a container for these huge emotions. Singing of tumbling hedgerows, tangled meadowlands and open moorlands it is my intention is to transport the viewer to an effervescent place of happiness that is literally saturated in joy. Where dreams are born.

A mixture of the highest quality oil paints, inks, glosses, glazes, fine glitters and gold leaf are applied in a multitude of layers. This alchemy of techniques result in a kaleidoscopic jewel like composition of rich pigments that prismatically reveal the radiance of nature. Initially washes are built like up in tender veils of colour. Later, much bolder marks are used with an energetic dance around the canvas. This part of the process is full of raw emotion and I literally pour my heart and soul into the image. The final layer of the painting demand focus and utter presence.

I always work outside, so lacy ice and strong winds have as much influence on the final painting as golden sunshine and gentle breezes. The elements, in a very direct way, dictate how and where the paint falls.

Ultimately I paint as a prayer and surrender to the place where the mystery unfolds.

“Painting for me is a love affair: I am profoundly passionate about it, it grips my heart tightly and I yearn for it when I am away”