"The reality is that if you’re truly passionate about something, it will always be calling."
- Corinne Vickery
Whereabouts are you based?
The village of Shepherdswell, between Canterbury and Dover
What made you decide to have a career change and focus on painting?
I was fortunate to be able to give up full time work with the arrival of my little boy, Felix and saw this as an opportunity to be able to apply more time to my paintings. However, the reality is a little different with a toddler, 4 horses and a dog to look after. My days start at 5.30am, 7 days a week, in order to cram everything in but I wouldn’t change it for the world, I feel so privileged to be able to indulge daily in things that I’m passionate about. I grew up within a creative household, with a mother whose a ceramist, so being creative was always second nature, but I guess while growing up outside influences convinced me that it would never be a ‘proper job’ so instead I tried to focus on more ‘conventional’ career. The reality is that if you’re truly passionate about something, it will always be calling. Until now I never felt I had the opportunity and perhaps the confidence to take the plunge!
Did you study a course in order to develop your skills?
I haven’t studied anything art related since my A-Level Art. I was slightly put off when I attended a taster day for an Art Foundation Course and discovered that if you could stick tissue paper on a window and get excited about it then that appeared to be what they were looking for. I have quite an old fashioned idea of art I guess and I want to create something that I’ve put my soul into that other people can enjoy, rather than trying to challenge perceptions or create something bizarre. I’m sure the reality of the course was that it offered a great deal more, but as a nieve 18 year old, it wasn't a world I could relate to at the time. I instead studied for a degree in Equine Science, which although isn't Art related, it taught me so much about bio-mechanics, the horses frame and movement, which I hope I’m able to convey in my paintings. I also regularly attend craft workshops on subjects that interest me. I’m hoping to attend a sewing machine embroidery workshop in June, which is pretty much drawing on fabric with a sewing machine!
What made you decide to focus on animals as your main subjects?
I’ve always been surrounded by animals and have spent so much time in their company. I spent a lot of my childhood studying them without even realising it. There’s so much variation on their different forms, colours, feathers or fur. There’s so much to study and so many challenges in translating their characters, movement and textures into paintings and yet I feel so comfortable with animals as my subject. I don’t have the same interest for the human form, which I think says a lot about me lol.
Are there any artists you admire?
I adore George Stubbs, for obvious reasons, but I admire the work of most of the great equine artists of that era. The horses were painted with such character and presence, with great attention to detail. In contrast another inspiring, perhaps lesser known equine artist is Vincent Haddelsey, who depicted country scenes with horses conveyed in a much more simplistic style, more folk art, I like to think my style is somewhere between the two.