Rebecca Morris

I spend my days looking up; my most over-used phrase is "look at the sky!" - which annoys my children no end. But I never fail to take a sharp intake of breath when faced with the changing light, colour and scale of what is above us all. I am fortunate to live on the edge of the countryside, surrounded by hills that provide a fabulous perspective that I enjoy when out walking, but I'm equally bowled over by a dramatic sky over Sainsbury's carpark. I'm forever taking photographs that never quite capture the immensity of what I'm seeing, but help to cement the feelings provoked. I paint on large canvases and prefer to work portrait in order to try and recapture the sense of scale and perspective of the towering, vast sky and low-lying landscape. I love working with acrylics as I like to paint quickly and build up thin layers. I use high-pigment, fluid acrylics along with a water spray and huge brushes which helps me to wash the canvas with colour and blend in a way that makes some question if I use oils rather than acrylic. I sometimes finish a painting with smudges of soft, high-pigment oil bars in order to deepen and define areas of colour or light.