Kealey Farmer
I am based in Silverstone and have been working as a full time artist since 2003. I am mainly self taught with over 25 years painting, drawing and personal study.
I was born and raised in Derbyshire, but moved further down South to live with my 'then' boyfriend (now husband!) I worked my way up through the ranks to become a successful marketeer and project manager but always continued to paint in my spare time.
My earlier work was based on strong abstract pieces, large scale with strong swirls of colour and energy - some using only acrylics, others experimenting with texture. In 2006/7 I started to look at 3D elements such as hand cut glass and Swarovski crystals to give the surface a different appearance, I worked with a local glass artist Neil Witney who would cut the pieces to fit my painting - this led to the 'Fusion' collection. Following this I returned to some figurative pieces, taking me back to my A Level studies. These had a much more feminine appeal and my work started to move in a different direction - this collection gave me 2 of my personal favourites, Living in the Light and While you were Sleeping, these incorporated 100's of Swarovski Crystal Elements, flowers and hearts.
I stripped back my painting style and used simple flowers and crystals, finishing them off in a high gloss creating those raised and reflective surfaces that I've always loved. One idea led to another and it took me nearly 2 years to come up with a design that seemed to work - when I painted the leaves for the flowers it gave me an idea for the trees, the trees then gave me an idea for a garden, and the garden for a gateway.
I've really enjoyed evolving and moving forward as an artist and hope in another 10 years time I can look back and see just as much progress in my work.