Caroline Ashwood

Caroline grew up in South Yorkshire. As far back as anyone can remember, she has always drawn pictures and experimented with colour and paint. She was the shy girl at the back of the class who never said Boo to a goose. However, you couldn't shut her up when it came to expressing herself on paper. Writing, drawing and painting have always been her voice.When  she was eight, she won a Blue Peter badge for a picture she drew and sent in to the TV programme for kids. By the time Ishe left school she was sure she wanted to make her way in the world through creative expression. So, she went to art school in Sheffield. The world of art opened up to her and she saw its influence everywhere. At art school she developed a strong affinity with the Ruskin era and the Pre-Raphaelites. A time that was as much about creative thinking as it was about art.I continued to make a career in the ad industry and worked with some of the best creative directors in the business. They taught me the importance of maintaining the integrity of ideas and concepts. The challenge of filling a blank sheet of paper with something that would fulfil someone elses desires was intoxicating and highly addictive.But, she noticed something about me was happening. The more she immersed herself in the creative process, the more she wanted to express her thoughts not just those of an advertising client. She was feeling a hunger. An urge to pick up a paint brush and make a mark on a canvas and create some original art. To go deeper into her thoughts without a brief, without an expected outcome.By this time, she had been painting at every opportunity and people began to buy her work. Then one day, she declared to her family that she wanted to paint for a living.Caroline now works as a full time artist from a yorkshire art studio (Soar Works) where she gets physical with the paint and canvas. Her work is visceral and spontaneous. When she paint, she relies entirely on her instincts. Using her hands to work the paint washes around the surface, she continually moves the artwork back and forth to keep the colours flowing. Eventually reaching a point where she allows the paint to take the control so that she can revel in the prospect of the paint surprising her yet again.