Hi Laura, can you tell us about your background? Were you brought up in a creative environment?

Creativity was always encouraged in our home growing up. My mother is endlessly creative, forever making something new, and my nan often encouraged me to try new arts and crafts alongside her. Creativity has always a big part of who I am, though in different seasons of life it’s been expressed in very different ways. The main thing they both encouraged was for me to believe anything was possible. This meant that when I came to painting ten years ago, that idea of creating being a freeing and hopeful experience led me very naturally to create the expansive, hopeful paintings I do today.

What inspires your dreamlike landscapes? Do you work primarily from references,
memory, imagination, or instinct?

Painting for me began as a way to process becoming a mother, and the overwhelm I often felt in those early days over a decade ago. It started with walks in big wide, open spaces, breathing deeply as I went and I began figure out who I was again. On my return home, I began to paint, completely absorbed by the process of using my hands. I tried to create things that expressed all I was feeling in my heart as I walked in these beautiful landscapes; a big and expansive hope, a deep and settled peace. So, my paintings are not so much depictions of a place, but a way to respond to and capture the array of
emotions evoked by the beauty and majesty of the natural world.

Your work explores the tension between order and chaos. By using restricted colour palettes, focusing on tonal shifts or a limited range of hues, a sense of careful
restraint is particularly notable. How do you navigate the balance between these
opposing forces, and what signifies to you that a piece is ‘done’?

I’m constantly asking myself questions as I build the layers within a painting. I generally
begin with an idea of the emotion I’m trying to express, and the overall feeling I want the
finished piece to have. With each layer I check in with myself to see if that’s still where the piece is going or if it’s asking for something else. Does it need to be quieter? Louder?
Does it need more or less movement? Is more depth the way to express a feeling, or is it a lightness of touch? Curiosity leads me, questions help me navigate the path, and usually I know a piece is done when there are no more questions to ask. It says what I hoped it would say.

What do you hope your audience will feel when they encounter your paintings? What inspires the emotive titles of your work?

When someone sees one of my paintings my genuine hope is that they will share the deep sense of peace and hope that I’ve experienced out in wide places and big skies. Painting for me is very much inspired by my whole life, not just my life as an artist. As such, my titles begin with conversations with my children; they are the reason I began to paint after all! They see the world in such incredible ways and ask such fascinating and surprising questions. I name my paintings after these beautiful, rich conversations, sometimes with their words and sometimes with mine, as a way to mark and treasure their ongoing influence on me as a person.

In what ways has your creative practice enriched or transformed your life? Do you
have any advice for others wanting to explore their own creativity but unsure where
to start?

My creative practice began as a very personal way for me to process the big changes going on in my life as I learned what it meant for me to become a mother. From there it has grown beyond my wildest imaginings! I’d dreamed of being an artist since childhood, and in watching my children grow and begin to express dreams of their own I realised something very important. I couldn’t just tell them to chase after their dreams, as with so much of parenting I had to show them by my example. Mothering them well meant I had to embrace all that was in me and go after my own dream. This has changed everything for me, and I feel more myself through embracing both my roles as a parent and an artist than I ever have.

What has been the highlight or greatest achievement of your career so far?

The thing that brings me most life and enjoyment has to be whenever I get to share my work face to face with real people, either at an exhibition opening or an art fair. In these spaces the work comes alive in a completely different way as I share my story and my heart with people, and in turn hear their stories and how they all connect. It’s honestly the best part about what I do, and such an honour when someone connects deeply with something I’ve created and decides to take it home with them.

What are you most excited to be working on currently?

Currently I’m working on a new series of my ‘Horizons’ paintings, alongside a new series of work I’ve tentatively called ‘Cathedral’ paintings. ‘Horizons’ explores my emotional
connections and response to the landscape on a macro scale. These new ‘Cathedral’ works are exploring smaller, more intimate encounters within the landscape which evoke that same sense of wonder, hope, and peace. It’s early days, but I’m drawing inspiration from waterfalls, trees, flowers, rock formations, anything with layers built up over time that catch my eye and draw my heart.

Laura Pedley’s latest collection of ethereal abstract landscapes is available to view in the gallery and online, with all works available to purchase in person or via our website.