Wendy Borello RSMA

Statement

Wendy Borello has this overwhelming compulsion to draw and to paint; it's as simple as that. Wendy really enjoys the creative process, but she can't paint things superficially. She must have an affinity with the subject.

Wendy's fascination with the sea, cloudscapes and light and the enthusiasm to draw and paint them began in early childhood. They remain sources of inspiration. Wendy's objectives are to turn her experiences into evocative form.

Methodology

The natural world provides Wendy with the most inspiration and she carries a sketchpad and camera at all times. After qualifying as a diver in 1997 and captivated by the marine life and relics she had encountered, Wendy started sketching and photographing underwater. Wendy was excited to discover that depictions of the underwater world were capable of offering less-conventional interpretations of historical events at sea. 

A self-taught artist, Wendy's main work is carried out in transparent watercolour. Preparatory work for each painting includes sketches made on location, compositional ideas, colour palette and detailed drawing. Extensive research precedes paintings containing historical subject matter. Using only light-fast pigments, a watercolour is usually executed from a limited palette of four to six colours, though not necessarily the same ones for each work. An extended range of hues are obtained by mixing two, but never more than three, colours together. Wendy's painting methods often include innumerable layers of wet-on-dry glazing. Experimentation encourages Wendy to try to surpass the usual expectations of watercolour painting along with upholding the traditional values of the genre.

Wendy usually only works on one watercolour at a time. Her emotions are bound up in one piece until it is finished, which can be anything from 30 to over 100 hours, excluding preparatory work. This doesn't prevent her, however, from sketching, photographing and accumulating ideas of other things that she wishes to paint.

Bio

Born and educated in Ilford, Essex

1987   First Solo Exhibition

1996   Relinquished career as a cartographical/geological draughtsman to paint

2003   First exhibited with the Royal Society of Marine Artists

2009   Elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists

2011   Elected full Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists

Memberships

Thapong Art Centre Botswana