Return to UK (2023 onwards)

I have continued my art practice for over 3 years in Australia, thanks to Covid. But I'm back in UK now that things are different. If anyone is interested in my past paintings from Australia, please don't hesitate to get in contact with me through this blog. 

Here are my more recent works:

‘Roxy’, acrylic on canvas, August 2023, commission for client

‘Look Up’, acrylic on panel, October 2023

‘Untitled (flower pattern)’, pencil on paper, October 2023

‘Portrait #1’ pencil on paper, November 2023

Making more memories at the seaside (Continued practice in WA, Australia) 2019 - 2023

Starting from late October, 2019, I'm in WA, Australia for a gap year and continuing my artistic practice. Maybe with a slightly different theme.
Because I'm on the other side of the world from the UK, and more closer to the seaside than I've ever been before, I'm working in a variety of different themes of seaside landscapes, natural forms, patterns, abstraction, expressionism and family photos.
I have been collecting shells and rocks from the beaches I'm visiting, as well as taking multiple photographs of what surrounds me whilst travelling.
At the same time, I have been commissioned by individual clients to produce realism paintings and I have continued with abstract and experimental art.

These are the artworks I have produced so far:

'Wedding Day' - acrylic on canvas in frame

This was a wedding photo I was commissioned to paint by a client. I continued my realism/ illustrative style of painting in acrylic paint, using a wedding photo as a reference. This again emphasizes the moment to stop, smile and pose for a photograph to last through the decades to help you remember this moment.

'Canery Islands' - acrylic on canvas panel, 2020

This was another realistic and illustrative commission from a past holiday I was part of, in the Canary Islands. Family photos are personal and visual memories to look at for reminders of events since photography never changes.

'Bunny In The Garden' - acrylic on canvas panel, 2020

This painting had two photo's as references of a garden and a rabbit, combined. This continues my interest of nature and introduces my interest of animals in my practice.

'Rose' (experiment) - watercolour on canvas panel, 2020

This painting was quick and improvised with no reference. This continues my interest of natural objects. 

'Net of Colours' (experiment) - watercolour on canvas panel, 2020

I experimented on a couple small canvas' with watercolour paint like quick sketches of my favourite flower and a pattern of lines and colours. The lines and colours remind me of Bridget Riley's works.

'Scarborough Beach', mixed media on canvas, 2020

This painting was from one of my photographs while relaxing at Scarborough Beach, which is my favourite beach in WA. I decorated the border with sea shells I collected from the beach itself, to enhance the theme of the beauty of the seaside. I chose watercolour because it's a traditional medium for landscapes. The sea and the people show what a typical day at the beach is like, which is one of the best things we enjoy.

'Beauty Of The Waves', mixed media, 2020

I again improvised with this artwork. It was meant to have a different outcome, but instead I got this beautiful outcome. I used the crackle effect in this acrylic paint and thought it went well with the waves and shells because of the broken shells and objects I've found on the seaside. The whiteness represents the sand with the blue waves. I was thinking of a classic Japanese painting I've seen before when I was painting the waves.

'Untitled 1', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020

'Untitled 2', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020

'Untitled 3', acrylic pouring paint on canvas, 2020

I used pouring acrylic paint on canvas pages and got these 3 outcomes. I tried a number of techniques with filling the blank gaps as much as I can and also tried to leave more blankness and not treat it like filling in the spaces, therefore giving me different perspectives. 1 reminds me of the continent of Australia. The other two remind me of whipping liquids on a glass window, which would be an interesting method to try on the future.

'Holiday in Jurian Bay', acrylic paint on canvas, 2020

This was a personal photograph taken taken during a family holiday in Jurain Bay, WA. The expressions in the peoples faces body languages and gestures express how fun times are on holidays.

'Nana' (experiment), graphite pencil and canvas panel, 2020

From old family photos, I found an old black and white photo of my grandma when she was young. I liked the photograph that I just had to draw it on a small piece of canvas panel and it just worked perfectly. Even though its not my memories, its beautiful to look at from looking at my grandma now.

'Torana In Driveway', 2020, acrylic on canvas

This painting was commissioned in Australia by someone who is very passionate about their vintage torana car.history Even though it's not driven as much anymore, it's still a very valued, treasured and historical object.

'Garden', acrylic on black canvas, 2020

I worked with masking tape and painted with sponges and brushes. I also worked with natural colours  of the sky and plants you might see in a garden. In the outcome, this reminded me of a garden, looking into through a window.

'What You Find By The Sea', mixed media, 2020

I again worked with the objects you'd see at the seaside, like the colours of the ocean waves, the sand and seashells. I mixed acrylic paint and tonal pen mediums for a change. How the shell's have been drawn on brown paper represent how they lose their colours in the sunlight and how the tide brings them into the coast.

'Untitled (Improvising)', oil on canvas, 2020

I improvised with oil paint and the technique of using only a spatula to paint. This is the outcome. I like to leave this up to interpretation. I hope to use the spatula technique in different ways next time and continue merging colours, which I personally like the most about this painting. 

'Holiday in Exmouth', acrylic on canvas, 2020

This was another commission from a holiday photograph in Exmouth, WA. It is a personal moment to the client. fishing is a loved hobby of the man in the painting.

'Around Everywhere', 2021, oil paint on canvas

In this small painting, I again used only spatulas to paint the oil paint onto the canvas. With my collection of colours, I improvised with only a repetitive circular motion of the spatula and the colours, making a seemingly random pattern in the end. At first I thought just using the colours as they were, to see what more colours they introduce when they merge. They blend, overlap, contrast and merge with each other all in this one small painting, which is what I like most about this piece of work. It created a thick texture and formed collage as well as a abstract painting. For some reason, I couldn't leave any blankness in this pattern. I again started with an idea and could never predict the outcome. It reminds me of the wallpaper art, people use in interior design. I hope to use this idea again on a bigger piece of canvas. And maybe this idea of circular motion could be used to blend memories in photos.

'Around Everywhere #2', 2021, oil paint on canvas

'Around Everywhere #3', 2021, oil painting on canvas

I repeated this technique on 2 more bigger canva's and it looked good when these 3 paintings were placed together on a wall, as a collection. Maybe these can be presented that way as one abstract artwork. I can continue this pattern on more sizes and with more colours in the future. will try different patterns using only the spatula.

'Untitled', 2021, oil paint on canvas

This painting is the my first try on using oil paint on a more realistic portrayal of natural forms, such as flowers. The rose is again my personal favorite and I liked it better with the white blossom accompanying it. These came from a photograph of a bouquet I received as a past gift to me. I just loved the bouquet that I just had to paint it. I added the black background to make the flowers stand out more, like in the dark, their beauty shines out the most. This continues the exploration of the beauty of natural forms. I may try later on more types of flowers again in oil paint for different effects.

Untitled (Fragmented Memory)

This end of level 6 artwork at Staffordshire University continues to explore how memories change over time. It utilises the action words 'fragmentation' and 'fading'. I picked out a past photograph from a trip to Ilam Park depicting a casual moment/event with people walking in a landscape. These are the peaceful moments I like to depict sometimes. On ninety-nine MDF panel pieces, I painted the photograph and one piece, in colour, on a bigger panel, with the rest painted in blurry tonal colours. That represents a 'ghost' of the memory with one piece out of a hundred remembered, while the rest are scattered forgotten and lost. Some have even been placed in new multiple formations, creating new forms, as blankness in memories can form fictional thoughts. Use of levels represent status of what is remembered or forgotton. The layout of the paintings make the work 3D as well as 2D. The scales of the pieces make the work to be viewed from both a distance and up close, both looking straight and downwards.

After this exhibition, I was asked to exhibit this artwork again in the DR19 exhibition, later on in 2019. Only the fragmented pieces were asked for, without the large MDF painting. This put the artwork in a slightly different perspective. The pieces can work alone in expressing the loss of memory. The outcome of this work was more 3D which made the work more needed to be examined closely and far away again, as I hoped. It connects with the old, weathering layout of the exhibition space, including the temporary white walls that won't last, like the small details in memories. I continued presenting the pieces all level-headed to represent pixelization in photography and the loss of memory with the different statuses.

Application pack: Cover Letter, Proposal, Artists Statement and CV

Contents of Application Pack for ‘Wirksworth Festival - Lodge Project’:

1.     Cover Letter 

2.     Proposal 

3.     Artists Statement 

4.     CV 

5.     10 artworks

The Maltings (Formerly The Parish Room),

Church Walk,

Wirksworth,

Derbyshire,

DE4 4DP.

Dear Carol Taylor,

I have been once to Wirksworth in the Derbyshire Dales briefly before, but I haven’t explored the area thoroughly, so I am curious to explore it some more. As a soon-to-be graduate artist from Staffordshire University, I would like to have a residency to start after I graduate, and when reading about the opportunity to explore a new area, my first thought was to physically walk the area, which is my favourite part about my methods in the research of my projects. To create an exhibition from this would be amazing. What will be included in this application pack is a proposal for the project, my CV, my artist’s statement, ten pages of images of my chosen artworks and my website. 

When it comes to exploring new locations, I always start with the method of walking the trails, while taking photographs with my camera to view later when I’m working in a studio. I may also work outdoors in the area producing art with materials I find there, leading to site-specific artworks. I communicate with the public of who has more experience in this area than I, to find out more information. Also, I learn and use the history of a location in my works sometimes. I then use the photographs I’ve taken and any other public info to influence my research and possible outcomes of my artworks for an exhibition. Because I’m currently working with memory in my practice, it would be interesting for me to think back to that one time before and what sights I might recall when I see it.

As a fine artist studying at Staffordshire, I have the skills of producing artworks in many mediums like drawing, painting, ceramics, photography (editing through photoshop), printmaking, installation, canvas making, found and natural objects. So, my use of mediums is flexible and a widened range. I also have organisation, researching, exhibition planning, communication, problem-solving and IT computer skills as an artist.

I look forward to meeting the community of the festival upon my suitability for the opportunity.      Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Best regards, Rebecca Shaker.

The Lodge Project - ‘A New Land’ Proposal

This residency will allow me to explore a new area which is what I love doing as a starting point in my studio practice. I walk the area while taking pictures, doing quick sketches and finding out information about the history of the area. Depending on what I find, I’m considering producing site-specific works that could be made as well as the artworks I create in studio work. There will be a rich variety of ideas leading to artworks that will be made from this starting point.

I am visualising in creating an art exhibition from an outsider’s point of view who thoroughly explored Wirksworth, as a public event. If I still have time to organise it, replicates of these artworks could be sold in a sale, unless someone makes me an offer for the original artworks, after the exhibition ends. The artworks outcomes will depend on my exploration of Wirksworth. Because I’m not sure of what I will find I like the idea of working with improvisation and chance as well. I hope these artworks will encourage the audience to explore new areas around them.

As a fine artist, I can produce a wide variety of mediums in art, such as paintings, drawings, (edited) photographs, sculptures of natural materials (depends on what I find) or installations, etc. If there are any other artists in this project, and depending on their practise and ideas, I would be happy to collaborate with them.

I will take part in as many of activities as possible to gain as much research for my produced works. For example, walking the trails while taking photographs myself; using the land materials for artworks if I get permission; communicating with the public and taking part in available public activities I find in the community. For example, the Art & Architecture Trail weekend. I’ll also be learning the history of the area and looking for artefacts while walking the trails, such as limestone quarrying. This, in turn, relates to my exploration of how time changes landscapes and memories in my studio practice. I will be working in a studio space when producing artworks or out in the countryside.

The residency will take place from July to September 2019. The festival will take place from 6^th to 22^nd September 2019, so the exhibition will be during that time. I might come to Wirksworth sooner than July only in visitation for a day or 2, because I prefer to have all the time I can get, to produce artworks, make and change my decisions in planning, in being prepared.

At this stage and judging on my studio practice, I think paintings and drawings will be my outcome for the exhibition but as a fine artist who is a stranger to this area, the investigation and research will lead to a more conclusive idea about what will be produced. The work itself may contribute to preserving the industrial history of Wirksworth.

I will most likely need an indoor gallery space and plenty of wall space for my 2D artworks. I still have yet to see the venues, but I think it will be in the Maltings and St Mary’s Church venues. The £3000 fee I will receive should be enough for funding. With this, I will pay for: paints, paper, MDF boards and any art materials I will need. If there are any other artists applying, I would be happy to work with them working towards a duo exhibition. I usually bring my own equipment in producing artworks. If you have any computing or printing equipment, that would be very helpful. I will need white and cartilage paper, canvas, acrylic/oil paint, which I will buy from the nearest art shop or online. If I were to fundraise, I would do cake sales and ask the volunteers of the Wirksworth festival to help at their events.

If I work with panels and canvas’s, there may be risks in using drills and nails putting the artworks up, in the gallery space. Apart from that, there are no risks. If I use photographs of the public, I will use permission slips. Until I see the venues of the festival, I will not be able to predict where I will be displaying them. Most likely in the Maltings or the town hall.

Artist’s Statement (2018)

My practice currently explores how time changes memory, using my own personal memories as a starting point and example. I’m also exploring the space between memory and photography because photography records a high level of detail while memory is economical, but you might remember enough to recognise something. The outcomes of the work are often paintings on paper or canvas, or drawings that come from photography. The other mediums I also use are: video, edited photography, found objects, cheap objects, mixed media, installation.

I always start with photography as my research source, taken during my walks or travels. I change these photographs to other mediums to develop towards final outcomes, because that is how I make the events/memories of these photographs more ‘human’ and no longer ‘digital’. This is because today, a photograph takes only a few seconds to take, that lasts forever, whereas mediums like paintings or drawings take longer to complete, therefore I’m spending more time in remembering the moment/event of when this photo was taken. It also is an interpretation of how memories shown in these photographs change through time. The change from photograph to another medium gives me the opportunity to manipulate the outcome of them. Also, by travelling and taking photographs, I’m exploring 2 different perspectives; through a camera’s lens and the 360 degrees understanding of lived experience.

I have a desire to record and document my travels. I use those photographs as a recall of memories. I come back to these memories to express connections and narratives like a visual diary. 

CV

Rebecca Georgette Shaker

rebecca.shaker@yahoo.co.uk,

https://rgshaker.blogspot.com/

https://beckyshaker.blogspot.com/

Education/Qualifications

2016 - present, Staffordshire University, BA (Hons) Fine Art, Stoke-on-Trent

2015-2016, Sheffield College, Foundation diploma, Art and Design – Merit, Sheffield

2014-2016, Bilborough College, A-Levels – Art and Design - D, Dance - C, Drama and Theatre Studies – D, Extended Project – D, AS level – Media Studies – D, Nottingham

Exhibitions

‘Equivocal’ - End of Level 5 Exhibition Degree Show – As part of a group exhibition, I produced an installation of a fabricated and temporal studio space which shows the experiments and artworks of a project of me exploring and documenting the changes of Hanley Park through time. You see the behind-the-scenes of this project – May 2018, Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley City Centre, Airspace Gallery

‘Phoenix’ – In a residency placement in Hanley Park, I produced a solo exhibition of my artworks in documenting the changes the park was going through in its restoration combined with my own studio practice – March 2018, Stoke-on-Trent, Hanley Park

‘End of Level 4 Exhibition Degree Show’ - I did a collage of what I pictured Greece to be since I’ve never been there before, using found google images. It was frozen in the process of being 100% complete – June 2017, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire University Campus

‘Samara’ - A group of 4 artists doing their individualism in the themes of the stages: Birth, Life, Death and Reincarnation. Mine was life in a collection of found objects describing a fictional person’s life - March 2017, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire University Campus, Cadman Building

Sheffield College, ‘End of Foundation Year’ - At the end of the foundation year at college we selected our theme; mine had been Greek mythology and found objects and symbolism of these myths. The exhibition was carried out in a public space with audience participation - June 2016, Gage Gallery, Kelham Island, Sheffield

Skills

As a fine artist at uni, I’ve had experience in painting, drawing, Photoshop, ceramics, wood work, plastic work, canvas making, photography, surface pattern and film. I have research, organisation, problem solving, and teamwork skills in creating an exhibition. I am always currently developing my own artistic practice. Currently, I am focusing on my personal memories of travels in photography and how time changes them.

Voluntary work

August 2014 – National Citizen Service, Nottingham - assisting at Nursing Home

2^nd November 2017 – 4^th November 2017 – British Ceramics Biennial, China Hall – exhibition assistant

June 2017 – Sheffield Care Fertility, admins office - organising folders and helping where I can

25-29^th June 2013 - Bulwell Crabtree Primary School - Teaching assistant work experience

Employment

Leaflet distributor – Nottingham Building Society, October 2011

References on request

Gallery of Artworks (Part of Application Pack)

Images of Artworks

(Two collages layered)

(Final exhibition outcome)

 

‘A Desire Stuck But Not For Long’, found google images and plastic glass, collage, 2017

This is what I visualise Greece to look like in my mind, which is where I’ve never been, but I’ve always wanted to visit. The presentation of the layers being frozen in its slightly spread out state reveals the construction of the collage, like a behind-the-scenes of a film, coming out of its final outcome appearance.

‘Hanley Park Project’ – installation (mixed media, found objects, acrylic and oil on panel, text notes, pencil on paper, table, shelf, chair, books, photography) 2018

At the End of Level 5 Degree Exhibition, named ‘Equivocal’, I produced an installation of a fabricated and temporal studio space. It showed the research, experiments and artworks in the process of a project exploring and documenting the changes of Hanley park in its current restoration. The changes of the park were merged with my studio practice of painting, photography and how time changes things like natural forms and architecture. It’s the behind-the-scenes of a project. The work is inspired by Mark Dion’s ‘Harbingers of The Fifth Season’. The scene has been recently touched and has now been paused in the process, but not frozen. The installation is also accompanied by a small drawing and key of everything listed there in its fabrication.

 ‘Step in Time’, acrylic paint on paper, 2017

In my Hanley Project, based on documenting the changes of Hanley Park, these paintings came from exploring the park multiple times, while taking photographs of some of the architecture and how it changes through time, like the stone banner beside the steps. Like these three small paintings in levels, they’ve changed through time and I’m going back in time.

(Full painting before turned into collages)

	‘Colosseum’ and ‘Lights in the Night’, acrylic paint on paper, 2017 These paintings come from landscape photograph’s I took on my past travels in Italy. I used cubism and fragmentation, as a method, to represent how memories change through time. Memories themselves become fragmented. I used my personal memories as an example when exploring ‘memory’.

‘One Life’, Collection of found objects, 2017

When working with three other artists in a small exhibition, we produced an artwork individually in the cycle of life: Birth, Life, Death and Reincarnation. My section was life and this artwork represents the life of a fictional individual person, made of found objects as left behind clues to who that person after that person died. It’s not specific in terms of names, dates or family photos to remain anonymous but shows only objects that were owned by that person in life.

‘Park Run’ and ‘Birds Behaviour’, acrylic paint on MDF panel, 2018

In my Hanley park Project, I painted two panels of movement I saw happening in the park, such as the volunteers running at the weekly park run and the behaviour of birds flying around and over the pond. Jackson Pollock’s action painting inspired these as well.

‘Graffiti’, mixed media, 2018

In my Hanley Park project, I saw a lot of graffiti drawings all around the park, which left me thinking what the narratives behind these stories were. I gathered some graffiti by photography and drew miniature versions of them in different mediums. I tried to stay loyal to the material that was used to create them by their creators. I thought it would be interesting to see the reactions of people who created them, in the exhibition.

‘Myth and Reality’, acrylic and oil paint on two MDF panels, 2018

In my Hanley Park project, I combined two different paintings that I thought would fit nicely together as one artwork.

At first, I wanted to paint something inspired by my interest in Greek mythology. The painting of the swan came from the animal life I found in Hanley park and how the swan is a symbol of the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. I also included the changes from winter to spring in Hanley park, which in turn reminded me of the Greek myth of the abduction of Persephone, because when she is on earth, spring and summer awaken, but when she stays in the underworld, the world changes to autumn and winter.

The smaller painting again comes from my exploration of the park, when I saw a love lock on a bridge. The symbolism between these paintings are quite similar, so I put them together for the lock and swan to be interacting.

 

 Collection of ‘Natural Forms’, photography, 2018

In my Hanley Park project, while exploring the park, I found natural material’s (leaves, twigs, stones, etc) and improvised with them in creating abstract sculptures and then photographed them to place in the exhibition. I then left each sculpture to their fate to most likely be destroyed by the weather and I was hoping the audience, after seeing them as photographs, they would go to see the places where I created them and see if they are still there or not, which is why I displayed a map of where I made them in the area. To see how time changes them. This collection of photographs was inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.

 ‘Right On The Tip Of My Tongue’, oil paint on paper and text, 2018

This mix of paintings and text represent what I have brought back from my holiday travels of the last 4 years. It includes the written info of where and when these memories took place and what I can remember of the events when I took the photos. The separated text represents how memory has gaps (forgetting) in remembering small details. The postcard-size painting come from photographs I took of these travels which I blurred out precise details to represent the fading of memories. The artwork shows opposition of photography vs memory.