Artist statement by Jo Sykes
I am a self-taught artist currently working mainly in water miscible oils, watercolour and graphite pencil, and particularly love to paint moorland and wild spaces. I delight in land shapes that hint at its history, with scrubby grasslands, heathers and bracken, rocks, stone, crags and cliffs. Because I love big skies I am drawn to high ground with wide views, and my paintings express the joy I feel in those spaces often with bright, bold colour. I also particularly like to work in graphite pencil building up the detail of an overlooked little corner! My eye is often caught by that detail and texture, which I frequently reflect in my work, but I am also learning to develop a more expressive, gestural style experimenting in my preferred mediums. On my web site I have a monthly blog where I record things I have been working on during that month and what I have learnt from it, which I am happy to share as I have learnt so much from other, generous artists who have shared their skills and expertise. I feel very strongly that it is important for an artist to develop their own style whilst learning from others so that they can discover what their own visual voice is to express things that are important to them.

See more of Jo's paintings and information about how to purchase her art on her website at www.josykesart.com