Western Morning News (Saturday)
When the call of Cornwall becomes too much to resist
Frank Rurhmund enjoys the work of artist Amanda Hoskin, who came home...
One who took her first steps toward becoming an artist when she enrolled as a student at the School of Art in Falmouth, Amanda Hoskin followed this with a degree course at Chelsea College, and subsequent to her graduation worked in the capital for a time as a wild life illustrator.
However, having been brought up in Falmouth as well as studying there, it is not all that surprising to learn that she possessed a love for the sea and sailing, not to mention Cornwall’s landscape, and almost inevitably, the call of the sea and her native Cornwall was to prove irresistible and in the 1990’s she came back to where, as it has been said, “she belonged to be.”
Since then she has exhibited widely and has gained recognition as “a leading exponent of modern expressionism in the county.”
Although as she once said, “I can’t imagine doing anything else other than paint”, there was a period when she worked as a sailing instructor and enjoyed what would seem to be the best of both worlds – sailing in the summer and painting in the winter, talking of which, she says, “I’ve always sailed and this is where my fascination for the sea and constantly changing skies began. As a sailor one is very much a part of nature, it demands your full attention as does painting, one gets lost in the moment and time seems to lose its importance.” An all-action artist, she has as also been busy with her boots on in pursuit of the muse, and has walked the whole of Cornwall’s coastal path, also the St Michael’s and the Saints’ Way.
Indeed, as she adds, “Every solo show starts with me sketching outdoors, working with watercolour and pastels, and quickly with oils. This is where I get my inspiration and feel re-energised to paint. I love the process when I can experiment with colour, texture and technique.”
As she admits: “At this point anything goes. As I paint, everything else gets held at bay and only the painting matters. I’m completely there, and the challenges of day to day life simply melt away. In this way the collection grows organically and in time I sense that a body of work that genuinely belongs together is being created.”
Although she has travelled widely, from France and Italy to Scotland and the Azores, it is Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly that remain as her main sources of inspiration. Never formulaic, but an artist who possesses the ability to focus on something familiar and present it to us as if for the first time, she comes close to being sublime in capturing and conveying her intense regard for the local landscape. She says: “I endeavour to put my feelings for it in every painting, to give each one an energy which I hope viewers will see and appreciate.” Light is often the subject of her work and as she adds: “It’s what gives a painting life, and I try again and again to capture the ephemerality in my sea, sky and landscapes. It’s a constant challenge, but one that fascinates me.”
Well worth a visit, Amanda Hoskin’s ‘Colours of a Cornish Day’ can be seen in the Lighthouse Gallery, Penzance, until May 14.