SHE mixes the old and the new, the easy and the difficult, the texture with the imagery.
Artist Clare Lane definitely takes the longer road to creating her works of art, but the end product is simply stunning.
Colour, place and perception of space are the principal elements of her work, inspired by urban scenes.
And you can see it for yourself as part of the Showcase Exhibition at Huddersfield Art Gallery.
Clare uses digital technology to create urban landscapes – but she works on canvas and overlays her digital work with stitching.
Using a sewing machine “circa 1947” Clare’s creations make people want to reach out and touch them, feel the texture of pieces which make people look twice.
“I love seeing people’s reactions,” Clare said. “Seeing them glance over, look at a piece, then do a double take and get up really close to work out how it’s done.
“People seem desperate to touch it because they don’t know what it is, but the overall reaction is really positive which is nice.”
The answer to how Clare creates the urban landscapes is complex.
First come the ideas, photographs are then digitally created, sometimes over many months. It then gets touched up on a computer before it’s printed onto a canvas or linen
It’s at this stage Clare’s sewing machine makes an appearance and she adds stitching to her work.
“It’s a real mix of high-technology and low-technology.
“A lot of my pieces are photo-based, digitally painted with everything worked up on the screen. Once it’s printed I then add the stitching to it on my sewing machine which is as old-fashioned as they come, circa 1947 probably.
“Sometimes it’s trial and error during the repainting stage, it can take months to complete one piece.
“It would be much easier to just paint straight on to a canvas, but I get so much enjoyment and other people seem to like it too.”
She doesn’t say the idea is truly unique, but she isn’t aware of anyone else using such methods.
“I started to get really interested during my degree in printed textiles and I learnt more about the digital side them. I got a Craft Council Award for Manchester Met in embroidery.
“The two just seemed to go together and it evolved from there.”
Clare applied to exhibit at HAG as it offered a space big enough for her pieces.
But she remains so impressed by the team which also organises the biannual Holmfirth Art Market she’s planning on creating smaller pieces for the space.
First though she’ll be talking more in depth about her work, methods and inspiration.
See Clare Lane at Huddersfield Art Gallery on Friday, January 6, from 2-3pm.
