Approved: 16.08.2006

Hazel Brook

Approved: 16.08.2006

Much of my work emerges from the exploration of ideas through small sketches, whereby drawing can become a part of the eventual composition of my abstract paintings and monoprints or act merely as a starting point rather than a finite concept. However, the act of applying colour to a larger surface inevitably involves issues concerning the actual quality of that surface - whether it is flat or textured,

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Artist Statement

Much of my work emerges from the exploration of ideas through small sketches, whereby drawing can become a part of the eventual composition of my abstract paintings and monoprints or act merely as a starting point rather than a finite concept. However, the act of applying colour to a larger surface inevitably involves issues concerning the actual quality of that surface - whether it is flat or textured, thin or thickly applied, or overlayed - and challenges the concept of the original composition. At this point, the need to be freed from the original idea can become vital, so that expression, exploration and intuition can take over, allowing the creative process to evolve in a different direction from the original idea. It is often as if a mutation takes place in the evolving work as it develops organically and takes on a life of its own. It is this process that excites me and drives me to create. Education and Teaching? I was born in London in 1946 and from 1961-1967 I studied at Croydon College of Art where I completed a Foundation Art Course and a Specialist Vocational Course in Fine Art. From 1986-2002 I taught part-time at Hastings College of Arts and Technology and Eastbourne College of Arts and Technology. During this period I also conducted a number of art workshops in various schools, art galleries and museums, including Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill. In 2005 I was invited to teach part time illustration at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Exhibitions? Since the 1980s I have exhibited widely in various galleries including Mall Galleries, London; Rebecca Kormind Gallery, Copenhagen; Hastings Museum and Art Gallery; Brighton Museum and Art Gallerey; White Gallery, Brighton; Gallery 100, DMH, Brighton; Goodwood House, Chichester; The Gallery in Cork Street, London; Clink Wharf Gallery, London; The Poetry Library, Royal Festival Hall, London; Paper Point, Covent Garden, London; Rye Art Gallery; Rye Society of Artists; Bishops Phillpotts Gallery, Truro, Cornwall; Outfitters Gallery, Margate; Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; Hastings Arts Forum, Hastings; SoCo Gallery, Hastings; Trinity Gallery, Tunbridge Wells; August Gallery, Brenchley, Tonbridge; Stark Gallery, Canterbury; Brewery Arts, Cirencester. Awards In 2009 I won the St Cuthberts Mill Printmaking paper Award at Originals 09, Mall Galleries, London. Collections Much of my work is in both Corporate and Private collections and has sold through both exhibitions and agents. Corporate clients include John Lewis and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Publications I have created a number of images to texts. My first book 'To paint the portrait of a bird' based on a poem by Jacques Prévert was published in 1994 with a specially written preface by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. I am currently working on a second book, 'At the limits of nature', for which I am creating a series of images based on twentieth century poems on the theme of liberty and the environment. I have received a small Arts Council Grant to further this project. One of the illustrations was selected for Images 23 at the Royal College of Art, London in 1999 and another one for Images 27 at the Mall Galleries, London in 2003. Public Art? I have undertaken a number of public art commissions in both vitreous enamel and etched glass where I have developed a symbolic way of working using flat colour, line and collage elements. My public art commissions include: Sixteen vitreous enamel murals for the interiors of four blocks of flats on the Barkantine Estate, Isle of Dogs, London An exterior vitreous enamel mural for Hampden Park Library, Eastbourne, Sussex. An exterior vitreous enamel mural and an interior etched glass screen for The Conquest Hospital, Hastings, East Sussex.

CV & Education

Solo exhibitions 2005 - Paintings and Monotypes, Gallery 100, DMH, Brighton 2004 - Paintings and Monotypes, Trinity Gallery, Tunbridge Wells 2002 - New Paintings and Monotypes, White Gallery, Brighton 1997 - New Works on Paper, Paperpoint, Covent Garden, London 1994 - Artists Book illustrations to a poem by Jacques Prévert, Royal Festival Hall, London Group exhibitions 2011 - Christmas Exhibition, Naked Eye Gallery, Brighton 2011 - Fiveways Open House, Fiveways, Brighton 2011 - Prints and Paintings, Gallery 100, DMH, Brighton 2011 - Summer Exhibition, Rye Society of Artists, Rye 2010 - Hastings Society of Artists, Hastings Arts Forum, St Leonards on Sea 2010 - Print Show, Rye Art Gallery, Rye 2010 - Summer Exhibition, Rye Society of Artists, Rye 2009 - Brighton Festival Exhibition, Gallery 100, DMH, Brighton 2009 - Cork Street Open Exhibition, The Gallery in Cork Street, London 2009 - Curious and Curiouser, Rebecca Kormind Gallery, Copenhagen 2009 - Originals 09, Mall Galleries, London 2009 - Print Show, Rye Art Gallery, Rye 2008 - Cork Street Open Exhibition, The Gallery in Cork Street, London 2008 - Kings Hill Art, Arts & Business/Liberty Property Trust, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent 2008 - Spring Exhibition, Stark Gallery, Canterbury 2007 - Bristol Affordable Art Fair, The Passenger Shed, Bristol 2007 - Originals 07, Mall Galleries, London 2007 - Spring Show, HQ Gallery, Lewes 2006 - Mixed Exhibition, Arts & Business, Brighton 2006 - Mixed Exhibition, August Gallery, Brenchley, Kent 2005 - A is for Art, Star Gallery, Lewes 2005 - Mixed Exhibition, Gallery 100, DMH, Brighton 2005 - 'Sea Voices' Contemporary British Painting 2, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, Hastings 2004 - 6th Open Print Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol 2004 - Artists Prints, Outfitters Gallery, Margate 2004 - Originals 04, Mall Galleries, London 2003 - Images 27, The Mall Galleries, London 2001 - Summer Exhibition, Bishops Phillpotts Gallery, Truro, Cornwall 1999 - Coastal Currents, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery 1999 - Images 23, Royal College of Art, London 1998 - Works on Paper, Clink Wharf Gallery, London 1997 - On Reflection, Hastings Museum and Art Gallery