About

Hello there!

I’m Molly and I’m an artist based in Nottingham. I love painting and drawing animals, particularly the beautiful wildlife of the UK.

I have always loved painting and drawing, but after studying art at university, I found myself working in other areas. For a long time, art was a hobby squeezed around the rest of my life. It wasn’t until my children were at school that I found myself with a little more time to spend creatively and started to develop my practice more. I am inspired by nature and drawn to the beauty of the wildlife around us in the UK, so it was a natural subject to start with. Once I started creating pictures I felt happy with, I wanted to share them, and so my journey into being a practicing artist began. I’m still learning every day, both about creating work, and about running a small business, but I feel privileged to have found something I truly love doing.

Molly painting at an easel.

I am drawn to colour and this is often reflected in rich and vibrant backgrounds to my paintings. I work in acrylics and love building up layers to create depth, variation and substance. It always gives me a little thrill to know that what might at first glance be brown or grey, is in fact blue and orange and deepest pink and many other colours beside. The layers of colour are what bring the work to life.

I also enjoy the focussed intricacy of line drawing, and the variety of shapes and textures that a line on a page can create. Natural history illustration always brings me joy to look at and continues to influence my drawing practice. I add colour to my work using graphic markers which can give a jewel like brightness or soft, subtle tones.

Whatever medium I work in, I want to create more than a duplication of a reference image. I select my references carefully; they have to give me a sense of narrative, like the beginning of a story that I can’t wait to continue. Usually I unconsciously give the animals names and there is a story of them in my head – where they are, what they are thinking and feeling. Often people talk about my pictures in these terms too, not always with the same narrative as me, and I love the fact that they can speak to people in so many different ways.

I hope you enjoy looking at my work and being reminded of the beauty of nature we are so lucky to have all around us.