Caitlin
Project 1
Caitlin’s Project 1 was created in response to her own chosen starting point of ‘Animals’. She began by exploring different approaches to drawing and painting animals, researching a range of artists and experimenting with different media and techniques. Initially, she focused closely on individual features, such as fur and eyes, developing her skills in capturing texture, detail and character. During a visit to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in Birmingham, Caitlin was particularly interested in photographs showing animals within urban environments. This inspired her to consider the relationship between animals and the spaces we share with them, and how she might explore this theme within her own work. She went on to research artists who have approached similar ideas, taking particular inspiration from the work of Kevin Peterson. As her project developed, she created a varied collection of mixed-media pieces at different scales, experimenting with composition and exploring different ways of depicting animals within urban environments.
“I found the artist Kevin Peterson whose urban backgrounds are very run down places and with animals you wouldn’t expect to see there. His art is like nature is taking back and I liked this, so I went out in my local area and took some urban photos and created my own work inspired by Peterson”
Project 2
Caitlin’s Project 2 was created in response to the starting point ‘Woman’. She was interested in exploring how women have been portrayed throughout the history of Art, researching how artists from different periods have represented women through a variety of styles, materials and techniques. Using first-hand imagery of herself, as well as girls and women within her own friends and family, Caitlin experimented with a range of materials and approaches in response to her research. As the project developed, she explored ways of combining contemporary portraiture with visual elements inspired by historical artworks. Her final piece brought these ideas together, combining modern-day portraiture with references to the older artworks she had studied, including the use of flowers as a symbol of femininity and aged paper to create a sense of history and connection between past and present.
“I am surrounded by strong women in my family, so I wanted to explore women through art and how this has changed over the years. I enjoyed drawing women that mean a lot to me me ”
