LAURA BRADLEY
Biography:
Originally from the North of England, Laura is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario with an education in fibre and fashion arts. Inspired by the overlapping of nature and magic (and a love of tattoos), Laura has always had passion for art, her grandfather nurtured this passion from an early age and encouraged her in all creative endeavours. Over the years she has enjoyed a wide range of creative outlets including painting with acrylics, gouache and watercolours, crochet, embroidery and weaving and often finds herself lost in texture and colour.
Creative Process:
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I find I generally start from the end and have to work my way back. This is most definitely the case when I work on my woven pieces. I’ll see the finished product and how it makes me feel/what it brings up/ what image it conjures for me, then I’ll focus on that as I try to recreate it. If the image I see is bringing up a place or memory that’s tangible (rather than a feeling) then I may look through some images of that location or object before beginning so I have a clear image of the original in my mind as I work but I don’t really plan my weaving. I’ll gather my materials and just start. This can lead to a lot of unweaving and trial and error but as someone who in the day-to-day tries to control almost everything in their life, weaving is a very freeing process for me. I may also be inspired by a collection of colours or materials I have lying around. I’ll look at them and ‘see’ what I want to create from them because I like how the colours or the textures go together.
I’m less carefree with my drawing/painting (although I have recently tried to bring that freeing element into my hand painting). I’ll still see the end result before an idea, but I’m a bit more meticulous in the process. I’ll gather lots of reference photos, I’ll start with a very loose sketch (so loose I sometimes wonder if I can actually draw!) Then bit by bit I’ll refine it. I’ll look up reference photos for shape and dimension and perspective. I’m currently working on a project that incorporates multiple elements of creation in one so I’m eager to see what the process for that might look like as I feel my approach for each medium is different.
