Deborah Grice's oil paintings feature wild landscapes and turbulent weather. They are all metaphysical in nature - representing vastness and 'otherness' in the world around us.
Deborah is the headline artist for the Winter Exhibition 2020.
06 Oct, 2020
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Art, Life and Lockdown with Deborah Grice
06 Oct, 2020
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I began my career at Glasgow School of Art, aspiring to be a War Artist after being inspired by the work of Paul Nash and David Bomberg. I began training for this by working wholly en-plein air, finishing all work on site. This suited my working process as an artist who’s impulse was to produce direct and responsive work. Work that was a communion between landscape and the human spirit.
Deborah Grice sketching en-plein air with Jasper the Lurcher
Found, oil painting, £2500
In 2015 I began to work in earnest from my studio at The Ropewalk on the banks of The Humber. My improved health and pain control meant that after all those years of struggle, I had a mind full of new ideas and images. My work had become ethereal, mindful and there - I began the journey of making the invisible, visible.
One year after graduating from the RCA, I was diagnosed with a complex auto-immune disorder. It took fifteen years for me to finally be stabilised and well enough to begin producing work that was meaningful. During that time, although seriously unwell, I would look, analyse, disseminate - do all that painting required just without producing a final product. In 2008 I passed my Private Pilot’s License. Seeing landscape from the sky proved invaluable. As I flew, the sky itself became a medium that could support endless thoughts, hopes and aspirations.
Beyond V, oil painting, £1850
Lockdown began for me on 17th March 2020. I am a ‘Shielder’. This meant I was advised to no longer access my studio as it is part of a public space. Having committed to producing a large body of work for the Winter Exhibition at The Biscuit Factory, I became increasingly concerned with how to make the required work. The solution came in commandeering my husband Andrew Tyzack’s print studio – which lies at the bottom of the garden.
I began drawing from there for several months until I was given the go ahead to get back to my own studio and oil paints. Not having access to my regular materials for so long, forced me to produce new work: large drawings that felt epic and that solved some of my visual conundrums. The lack of space was an issue at first but, as we all must, I adapted. Spilt ink, Jasper the Lurcher stealing my brushes…all became the new norm.
Once I was given the go ahead to go back to my studio, I have found my work has become increasingly peaceful, quieter - more serene. Lockdown gave me time to work through the loss of my parents, the loss of fifteen years to my health and to find a deeper sense of tranquillity.
For many years, I have lived with an intimate knowledge of mortality, which has become increasingly clear over the last few months - not only for me but also for the global population. I am not frightened of what lies beyond my life here however, I do find myself continually seeking for clues and signs within the landscape of what may lie for us all hereafter.
Deborah's studio
Explore Deborah Grice's latest work, our headline collection for Winter 2020.
All of Deborah's work is available to buy with finance - spread the cost of artwork interest free with Own Art.