Janet Gough

Through my recent work, I have been expressing 'capturing the essence of the moment'. When from the corner of my eye, I capture something that visually excites me, and I want to try to preserve the energy of this moment through painting.

Sometimes I paint a little memory. Stumbled upon through the scent of a colour, the thread of a scrap of fabric, the fragment of a day out. A few past moments retained like snapshots create a visual narrative in paint……stories.

Sometimes my paintings are collages of moments where I play with real representative collage. I preserve a memory (watercolour on tissue paper) responding with this media to the fragile nature of the subject, which I seal with layers of varnish into a still life. If I'm listening to music the lyrics sometimes link subconsciously into pieces of my work, and eventually become entangled in the paint on the canvas.

I try to find beauty in the small everyday moments of life, and share it through my paintings. On the days I get lost, I go back to Matisse, Picasso and read Hockney whose personal perspective lifts my spirits and always makes me seek to find 'pink through blue'.