Fay Collins

Fay is a visual artist based in Lancashire. She works using oil, acrylic, wax-oil pastel and watercolour to create images based on explorations of landscape and natural features within it. Fay's observations from coast, woodland and mountain regions of Lancashire, Cumbria, Scotland and Ireland continue to inform and inspire her work on a full-time basis. "I am fascinated and fired-up by the complexities of nature and landscape.

"My paintings are mainly concerned with glimpses of sunlight and shadow that are so evident in the fickle weather conditions here in the north west. Walking and cycling allows me to explore the wonderful and dramatic local coastline, mountains, wooded valleys and moorland, gathering visual material as I move through the varied landscape. My images and thoughts are then processed from these environments into studio-based sketched and paintings, where I use mostly oils for their versatile consistency and rich, vibrant colours. I enjoy the physical process of scraping back areas of paint to reveal unexpected colour combinations underneath and I delight in discovering that at some stage in production areas of a painting can partially evolve seemingly autonomously. I hope that in some way this letting go within the process is also reflected in my theme of standing water that inevitably and freely reflects complex and fascinating shapes and colours of the subject matter. The raw, powerful experience of being in mountain and coastal environments has been a regular feature of my adult life. In my twenties I spent much of my spare time backpaking in Wales, northern England, Scotland and the French Alps, seeking out wild, dramatic and high-level places. During those physical and mental challenges I hadn't realised until recently, just what an impact those experiences had made on my creative drive."