Beside You Painting

Background Sarah Ollerenshaw is an artist with a background in fine art restoration. She studied Spanish and History of Art at Birmingham University and then took a postgraduate diploma at Christie's which led on to an apprenticeship in restoration and conservation. Throughout her studies and restoration work she has always painted - art and art history has always been her passion. She has recently finished a two year stint as artist in residence at a prep school in Fulham; she paints (now full time) and is a mother to two amazing children. Statement 'There is something very evocative of childhood about a bluebell wood - I think one never forgets the first walk, seeing and smelling a bluebell wood for the first time...my paintings are meant to take you back to experience that delight and wonder one felt on first experiencing the woods in all their glory! One of my earliest childhood memories is singing 'In and out of the dusty bluebells' whilst holding hands with my grandmother and sister and dancing and weaving through a weeping willow in her garden. Whenever I see bluebells I think of that song and of that happy memory, which though now only fleeting, will always be etched firmly in my mind. My paintings hopefully resonate and inspire for a moment a spiritual transportation away from the busyness of life to another place where one feels alive and inspired by creation.' Technique Sarah's work is executed with an intensity and vigour using painterly bold marks, scratches and a range of palette knives. She is increasingly interested in how paint moves and how depending on its placement, colour can either sing or disappear. Her work is deceptively simple but on closer inspection the layering of the paint reveals the work involved. The tension between abstraction and a photographic edge is the desired effect. The colourful rhythmic poetry and balance of her work combined with the workmanship results in joyful paintings of artistic integrity. Sarah works loosely from photographs in her studio at the Wimbledon Art studios.