Wendy Golding

"My hand tells me what I’m thinking” - Pablo Picasso.

Picasso’s words ring so true for me, as the movement of my hands have always been key in my life to communicate to people - both as an artist, and in my professional life from working within the Deaf Community for 18 years as a BSL Sign Language Communicator. I prefer to paint abstractly and with my landscapes I feel Abstraction of a landscape allows me to be creative, exploring my emotional connection to an area rather than a pure realistic approach of being factually correct. This means the viewer can connect to my painting with their emotions first. Though I have drawn and painted all my life, it wasn’t until during the Pandemic of 2021, (and having experienced a dramatic change in my health in 2010), I consciously decided to give up my full-time job, and embrace each day as a full time creative.

For me 2022 was the start of finding out who I am as an artist. My time in my studio is a moment just for me to connect to my inner self and find what I want to communicate through my hands - and I am loving learning, reflecting, and exploring; whilst fully embracing my journey as an artist. Based in Gloucester, on the edge of the beautiful Cotswolds – I am influenced by the countryside around me, taking visual clues from natures forms, colours, and textures, as well as taking inspiration from the emotive rhythm and beauty of its language. My Hinterland series was created in 2021 and represents my personal response to the definition of the word ‘Hinterland’ – ‘an area lying beyond what is visible or known’, the dereliction of Victorian docklands, and my memories of first seeing Gloucester Docks when I moved here 25 years ago.