Artist Profile - Ros Burns
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Biography
Born in Wednesbury, West Midlands, my background is in Science, with a degree in Zoology. A career teaching Biology in Bristol then Mathematics in Shrewsbury was cut short by depressive illness. This prompted a change of direction via art therapy to a Fine Art degree in Painting from Wolverhampton University, graduating in June 2000 with a First Class Honours degree. In July 2003 I gained a certificate in Person Centred Art Therapy.
Artist Statement
A change of address, crossing the border from Shropshire into Wales, brings new perspectives to explore in paint. In these border hills the processes that form the landscape are clear. The action of water on rock is a continuing source of image and ideas. New lines of hills mark the horizon and there are new textures and colours in the landscape. Coastlines too are places on the edge, where water works on rock. These are the transition zones of the landscape where there is constant tension between stability and change. Exploring coastal path in Cornwall, Gower, Pembrokeshire and Anglesey gives a wealth of mental images to work with. My paintings are concerned with particular landscapes but are not “transcriptions” or “impressions”, rather a synthesis of the experience of walking, taking photographs, drawing; being there in different lights and seasons. In the making of a painting there is tension between remembered image and painted image. It becomes gradually more abstract, a balance of mark, texture and colour The process of painting, like the making of the landscape, is subject to chance events. In the flow and dispersion of materials, layers build up and are eroded away. I use earth, silt, and rock fragments in the base layer. It is the ground on which the work is based. It ties the painting to the canvas, creating a variable surface where the pigments flow and create patterns across the surface.