Hexham based artist using Gouache paints to create intricate works inspired by the Northumbrian landscape.
Isobel Haslam BA Hons was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1962. Trained in Fashion and Textile design at Leicester Polytechnic in the eighties, Isobel designed, lectured and travelled extensively before settling in Hexham in the heart of Northumberland where she has her studio. Isobel has a highly illustrative and fine art approach to surface pattern and design through which she communicates her love and fascination for the natural environment. Images and sensations of places personal to Isobel have been translated into paintings with a kaleidoscopic dream-like quality where colour and pattern collide to dramatic effect. Highly influenced by decorative ceramics, manuscripts and textile prints from a broad spectrum of eras and cultures, Isobel interlaces the patterns and forms inherent in nature and the textures and minutiae of living things into highly intricate flowing pieces. Each work is painstakingly achieved using multiple layers of gouache applied over hot-pressed paper, in a sense embroidering with the paintbrush, each piece taking months to complete. Attention to detail is evident in every curve, line and motif resulting in a highly crafted piece of finished work.
