Lou Barrett - Artist

I am a mixed media artist known for my expressive and energetic abstract paintings inspired by the landscape. My raw emotions guide my choice of marks and colours and influences how the interplay of these elements come together. I have always been interested in painting but didn’t take it up till later on in my life. Joining art and life drawing classes, it has now enabled me to make abstract pieces of work to sell and exhibit We have a family cottage in robinhoods bay, so many a weekend is spent on the East Yorkshire coast and moors, exploring wild undiscovered places, where weather, time and the rhythms of the seasons, changes it's look and feel. I take photos and do small drawings, which are then developed in my studio back home. The paintings are made on paper or canvas, with a variety of media including inks, acrylic paints, chalk and oil sticks. Texture is important to my work, which involves building up many layers and marks which are often scraped back off or covered up. Over months, the painting will change and take on its own history, while scraping off can reveal hidden traces of colour, a dot or a line, but it’s present is felt, it’s those little hidden bits that excit me!