Artist Interview | Yvonne Coomber | British Style Society

Art is one of the best forms of self expression and creating a career from something as individual as you are is a wonderful chance to explore your talents whilst sharing them with the world. British Style Society talks with Yvonne Coomber, renowned contemporary British artist based in South Devon, on her love creating unique art and inspiration behind her creations.

Yvonne’s highly sought after paintings sing of tumbling hedgerows, tangled meadowlands, open moorland and magical forests. They whisper of love. Through her work Yvonne transports the viewer to an effervescent place of happiness; a place where paint smiles. Her mixed media constructions often include glitter, gold leaf, flowers picked in the meadows and multiple layers of rainbow-strewn pigments and paint that come together to create a perfect harmony. This unique technique encourages her delicate yet sprightly florals to be catapulted up from the canvas in a kaleidoscopic confetti shower of joy.

Yvonne, please give us a little insight into your creative background.

My Irish mother is both an amazing gardener and seamstress. Her garden looks like one of my paintings! She also made beautiful embroideries and tapestries. My father was a complete nature lover and always admired wild, untouched special paces. When I was a child, my upbringing was a colourful creative melting pot. In my twenties. I travelled extensively and these experiences have undoubtably fed into my practice. I began a formal fine art training in my early thirties.

Who was your influence when you discovered your love of art?

The impressionists and colour field painters have been an enormous influence on the beginning of my love affair with painting. Very particular Claude Monet and Helen Frankenthaler. Monet for his use of light and ability to convey the essence of a place and Frankenthaler for her experimental and groundbreaking use of colour.

What have been your key inspirations for your creations and concepts?

Photography and my travels have most definitely provided an inspiration for my paintings. Wild untamed flower meadows in Tuscany, Provence and Devon and Cornwall all are present in my canvases. Also my deep love of literature feeds into many of my titles. I also infuse each canvas with a belief in fundamental human goodness.

Describe your ideal environment to create art.

Always en plein air saturated in nature. Howling winds and lacy ice as well as scotching sunshine all feed into my work. What I create is always a response to the relationship between internal and external landscapes.

Are there enough opportunities for emerging artists to showcase their work and enter this competitive industry?

There can of course always be more… However with the emergence of many web based forums there are more potential opportunities than previously existed. Also I believe that dedication, persistence and hard work also carve their own paths!