Sally Watson’s paintings are rooted in a deeply personal response to landscape, capturing not simply how a place looks, but how it feels to inhabit it. Working within an abstract expressionist language, she uses energetic mark-making, colour and layered surfaces to evoke the atmosphere, movement and emotional character of the environments she encounters.
The East Anglian landscape is central to Watson’s practice. Time spent walking, observing and recording the changing countryside and coastline provides the starting point for works that develop through photography, notes, sketches and collage before moving into painting. Rather than reproducing a particular view, she brings together fragments of experience, memory and observation to create a more instinctive interpretation of place.
Her ongoing Salt Lines series focuses particularly on the East Anglian coast and its continual transformation. Natural erosion, shifting weather patterns and increasing human development all become part of a wider exploration of a landscape that is both familiar and increasingly fragile.
Influenced by Abstract Expressionism and artists including Robert Motherwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko and Franz Kline, alongside Joan Eardley and contemporary painters Barbara Rae, David Mankin and Sam Boughton, Watson has developed a practice characterised by immediacy, texture and expressive freedom.
In this interview with The Flux Review, Watson discusses her journey into art, the importance of immersion in the landscape, the processes behind her paintings and the continuing evolution of Salt Lines.
Are you self-taught, or did you undertake formal artistic training?
It’s a mixture for me. I have always loved art and design but did not follow this route from school (though I did work in creative fields – advertising, PR, film production). In 2020 I finally took a ‘qualification’ (UAL) and since then have fully embraced my lifelong passion. I have also been lucky enough to work alongside other artists in shared studios, learning from them as one does, and followed several online skills-specific courses.
How would you define your visual language or conceptual approach?
I would define myself as an abstract expressionist. Mark-making, energy and emotion are hugely important to me. I want to communicate the feel of the subject, rather than creating a faithful visual copy.
Can you describe your creative process from conception to completion?
I take a lot of time for inspiration – time in the landscape itself, gathering the feel, the smell, the sounds, as well as the visual imagery. How it feels to be there. I take many photos, I make notes, sometimes I even make sound recordings. In the studio I‘ll review and crop my photos, I might sketch in response and collage. Then I use these early responses as a jump off point to make my works.
Does narrative, symbolism, or storytelling play a role within your work?
Hmmm. Not sure how to answer this. It’s the narrative to the land, the environment – its history, what it is like day to day and also over many visits. How does it feel to be there. But perhaps that becomes storytelling when those explorations are combined in a work?
Which artists have most influenced you historically or contemporarily and why?
The American Abstract Expressionists such as Motherwell, Rauschenberg, Rothko and Kline are ever-fascinating to me. In the UK, Joan Eardly work. I much admire contemporary painters like David Mankin, Barbara Rae and Sam Boughton for their colour, energy, abstraction.
What personal, cultural, or environmental influences shape your practice?
Immersion in the landscape feeds my practice, and my human response to it.
Where is your studio based, and how does the space inform your creativity?
I currently work from a home “studio” (converted room) though until recently was part of an art collective – designermakers21 in Diss – where we shared a building divided into studios and had ‘open studios’ 3 days a week all year round. Being based at home allows me to access my inspiration daily.
Do you have any rituals or rhythms that anchor your studio practice?
I continue to spend some of each day immersed in the East Anglian countryside; its ever-changing nature and the rhythm across the seasons provide endless inspiration.
After spending time outdoors I usually reflect upon that as I drink (more) coffee, reviewing photos and thinking about my walk/my work in progress before then actually entering the studio where I will perhaps create some sketches/collage in response to my new photos. I’ll move from there to my works in progress.
What bodies of work or projects are you currently developing?
My ‘Salt Lines’ series reflecting the East Anglian coast continues. I am deeply fascinated by the changes wrought on it naturally through weather patterns, the dramatic erosion effects we are experiencing but also the increasing human effects (high level of development) experienced.
Where can collectors encounter or acquire your work?
I most often show in East Anglian galleries. I have exhibited in Norwich, Dunwich & Southwold this year. My work will be shown in The Broad Street Gallery, Bungay in September and my work can be seen on sally_watson_artworks (Instagram) – feel free to DM me or I can be contacted via email – sallynicolawatson@gmail.com
