Caroline Bullock
Artist Statement
I was brought up to be observant, for example searching for a particular tiny shell on the beach, or for wild strawberries in a hedgerow, and to enjoy looking at things. My mother is a good painter, influenced by Christopher Wood, and my father became a potter, aged 45.
Bedales is an 'arty' school. At Bedales Junior School, aged 11, it was remarked that I had a 'flair for painting', and I remember being asked to paint a birthday card for the headmaster. I have greatly enjoyed painting for as long as I can remember, but I was lucky at Bedales to be encouraged and appreciated by the Art Master, Christopher Cash, who liked my individual naive style. He might have told me I was no good I failed 'A' Level Art twice, which I think does my Art Master credit, and shows I am a truly naive artist.
People suggest to me that I have a 'vision', but when I paint I try to paint things as they are, as accurately as I can. I treat colour particularly carefully because it is so pleasing, and artists often get it wrong. My subject matter is usually something I have seen, but I sometimes paint religious or imaginative scenes. I look hard, with 'my paint eyes' at what I'm intending to paint , maybe make a pencil note, then go away and 'put the subject through my seive' until I am ready to paint it - maybe a year later.
My early work is painted in gouache, but now I use oil paintings. They are forgiving in use, and have the gentle quality I want.