Kirsty Lorenz’s artistic output didn’t diminish during lockdown, but she spent time producing paintings that she felt comfortable with while the world went crazy around her.
For her latest exhibition, though, she has been inspired to push the boundaries once more and her Flowering Sun and Phases of the Moon series of paintings are a celebration of her meticulously researched and painted work in all its glory.
Kirsty, who was born in Scotland, grew up in the Midlands and attended art college in London. After a spell working with Artlink in Edinburgh she relocated to Fife in 2009 and began the process of establishing an art studio on Platform 2 of Ladybank Railway Station under the Adopt a Station scheme.
There was a lot more involved in the project than she first realised but, once all of the planning hoops had been jumped through, Kirsty had a quirky workspace where she is able to paint, hold workshops and listen to the occasional tannoy announcement. The artist, who has two young children at home, says: “It has really been key for me to earn a living, it was worth the pain!
“I really love this place, I like feeling part of the outside world, with trains and people going past.”
Wild flower paintings
After working with Artlink and making the decision to focus on her own artistic output, Kirsty has turned to wild flowers.
“I wanted to go and visit the wild flowers growing in the machair. I applied for some money and went to the Outer Hebrides. I started making posies, which I left as gifts on the rocks and I felt like a kid in a sweetshop,” she reflects.
From this visit, she began her Votive Offerings project, which has been ongoing since 2014. Her latest Votive painting is of a delicate bunch of harebells, which have long been a favourite. “I love the tiny stems and papery flowers,” she says. Her image of these beautiful blue flowers captures their movement and fragility perfectly.
When lockdown hit last year, Kirsty was faced with the sudden closure of galleries and classes. “I couldn’t really focus on anything difficult,” she recalls. “So I went back to my daisy chain paintings, picked daisies, painted them, and sold the work via the Artist Support Pledge. I got such lovely stories from the people who bought them.
Artistic energy returns
“In September 2020, I found the energy to start experimenting again.”
She feels that she entered a really prolific period of work in January. “I had a surge of creativity and when that happens you’ve just to run with it!
“This summer I have worked on the Sun and the Moon series of paintings.”
She says the project “feels like an interlude” from her work examining medicinal plants and their properties. “I’m fascinated by medicinal plants, healing and faith and the connection to nature.”
Her Sun and Moon paintings embrace the idea that they are essential in seasons and cycles and growth. “The Sun paintings are inspired by the cat’s-ear flower, which is really prolific, like a little dandelion. They open and close with the sun.”
The choice of flower for her moon paintings wasn’t so easy. “I tried a few different flowers, including field rose and campion, but settled on hedge bindweed. I arranged these really beautiful flowers in a smaller sphere,” she says, explaining that she was particularly drawn to the fact that, if there’s a moon, they will stay open at night-time.
Taking a sphere of florist’s oasis, the artist then set about creating models for her sun and moon, taking photographs and painting them before they wilted.
Watercolour and acrylic are her current media of choice. “I used to paint in oils all the time, but acrylics give you a flexibility that oils can’t.”
Day and night
Her painting is incredibly intricate – the sun paintings shine out with a bright light, while her four phases of the moon capture night-time luminescence.
She is delighted to be able to exhibit her work in person again. “It’s just wonderful. That’s the thing about making art – I want to share it.”
Kirsty’s paintings form part of an exhibition entitled Flower Show, which opened this month to coincide with the delayed Chelsea Flower Show.
She will also be taking part in North Fife Open Studios on October 23 and 24. In the meantime, she says, “studio visits are always welcome by appointment”.
