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Jill Swarbrick Banks M.A. * Home * Portfolio * About * Contact * * * * * Jill Swarbrick Banks M.A. * * * * * * Home * Portfolio * About * Contact LYRICAL ABSTRACTION ALL CONTENT ON THIS WEBSITE ©JILL SWARBRICK BANKS 2021 PORTFOLIO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Recent work in Lyrical Abstraction * Portraiture and previous Commissions * Coventry Cathedral work (Artist in Residence, 50th Jubilee Year 2012) ABOUT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beginnings Born in Raynes Park, London 1959, my family moved to leafy Surrey when I was quite little. My Father ( Arthur Banks ) a Cartographer and Jazz Pianist has been a hugely significant influence on my professional career. I spent many an hour in his studio watching while he drew exquisite maps with stained black and orange fingers. I grew up surrounded by wildlife, trees and heathland in Oxshott and although quite an isolated childhood, it set the foundation for the imagination to run free and highlight the advantage of chances throughout life. Art It took until my early 20s and a supportive partner to realise that I wanted to study Art and to paint. After enrolling on a two year General Art and Design BTec diploma course in East London in the late 80s, I finished well - with a distinction - and a definite trajectory : Fine Art Painting. The Netherlands This qualification took my partner Alie Blok a dutch silversmith and I over to the "Emerald City" Groningen in the Netherlands where I studied oil painting At the Academie Minerva, graduating in 1992 with the UK equivalent of a B.A. Degree. This was the embryonic stage of painting lyrical abstraction. Immensely grateful for the initial guidance of a close friend, the Impressario and Flautist: Yvonne van den Berg in Groningen, she introduced me to western classical music and most especially that of of Igor Stravinsky whose remarkable 2013 ballet music: le sacre du printemps which I responded to visually in my first large major oil: "Stravinsky / The Rite" (to view visit paintings on this site) Music became a strong factor in opening up my work from purely figurative into total abstraction. I continue to work from music to this day. England Sadly, Alie passed away in 1997 and I decided to repatriate to the UK. In an unlikely but very happy scenario... I ended up marrying the savant fiddler Dave Swarbrick. He was the master of his art and he loved Art! He couldn't draw and I couldn't play the violin so we complimented each other. I established a studio practice in Coventry. Coventry Cathedral In 2012 I was appointed Artist in Residence to Coventry Cathedral for their 50th Jubilee celebration of Basil Spence's new cathedral. I produced several abstract paintings. This was also the year that the Dean of Coventry Cathedral the Very Reverend John Irwin was standing down after ten years of service and devotion. I was asked to paint his portrait as part of my remit as Artist in Residence. The tradition of commissioning a portrait of the outgoing Dean is maintained by the congregation and clergy of Coventry since the initial inauguration in 1962. My portrait of John now hangs beside the other previous Provosts and Deans in the Provost's Vestry in the Cathedral. Master of Arts I lost Dave in 2016 - we had had 17 years of fun together - I returned to work and enrolled on an M.A. (Master of Arts degree) in Fine Art Painting at Aberystwyth University, the School of Art whereupon I graduated with a distinction in 2019. I have always enjoyed working within Portraiture, Landcape, Genre and Abstraction however, it was at Aberystwyth that at last I seriously devoted myself to painting within the genre of Lyrical Abstraction. Lyrical Abstraction For the continual advancement of my own practise I have closely studied the work of J.M.W.Turner over many years and most especially his later oils. I attempt to capture "memory of place", the affecting residue and feeling from landscape or music. That echo of spirit that lives on in the mind's eye. Painting for me is a soulful vocation, purely responses in oils to the transcendental sublimity of memory built upon knowledge of traditional painting techniques. Lyrical Abstraction painting is a specific genre in itself. I always tend to think of it - if one had to compare it with a musical analogy - perhaps to the sounds of a Theramin in as much as playing it means you have no actual physical touch (of anything), Lyrical Abstraction for me, is about painting (for me ONLY achievable within oil paint) without direct reference to any depiction of the "real" world as our eyes perceive it. It differs from Abstract Painting in that it has no physical reference/starting point nor an end point nor goal. It is visual spirituality sans actual religion. I always begin with a gesture and an instinctive choice of colour and implement. I literally go with the flow and slowly, the painting dictates its own direction and solution. It is an extremely demanding methodology and requires utter dedication and concentration. A painting evolves over weeks, months. I work on at least two canvases at the same time, side by side moving from one to the other. This is not only conducive to creating a similarity of paintings but it helps prevent becoming too obsessed with the superior progress of just one, which can lead to over-working and pushing it over the edge. My only anchor in the initial stages might be sound or minimal music. The resultant painting is not an attempt to physically reproduce those sounds in paint but rather a launchpad, a mechanism to generate a certain mood/ atmosphere in the studio conducive to the most creative and promising of outcomes. Current situation Building a new body of work in my new studio and planning future collaborations with the inspirational composer and multi-instrumentalist Simon Swarbrick, a man of great talent and modesty! As an aside, I am very fond of portraiture and composing genre paintings (scenes of everyday life). I take commissions for portraits and I'm very open to new projects and challenges as well as commercial work. I also enjoy one to one oil painting tutoring and coaching workshops. If I can help, or if you would like to just ask a question contact me without obligation on the form below. Many thanks Photograph of Jill Swarbrick Banks by Stu Vincent CONTACT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * United Kingdom * 07853 446682 * Jillswarb@gmail.com Contact Us Jill Swarbrick Banks M.A. Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved * Home * Portfolio * Contact * * * * 07853 446682 * Jillswarb@gmail.com * United Kingdom * * * * * * *