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.
Peoplesuggest 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 im 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.