About Michela Griffith

Creative Process

I take inspiration from the smallest of details as I wander through my local wood and peer into moss-lined pools.  How my images feel is as important as what they look like and I have begun to loosen the reins on my interpretations; we commonly think of water as liquid but it is equally vapour and at times may, briefly, be solid.  I have learned to abstract even more, to dream a landscape, sometimes mixing the sights with the ambient sounds of this quiet place.  The space and the ambiguity that this creates invites us each to find our own individual interpretations within the works.

Where possible I follow nature’s prompts, improvising tools and collecting materials; spontaneity seems to energise both me and my process.  Currently, I use photographic prints on the thinnest of papers to create a colour ground in my mixed media works.  This diaphanous layer substitutes for the surface of the water that I photograph; there are depths below to peer into and marks above to follow: gesso, ink, acrylic and spray paint, pen and pencil.  I rarely use brushes preferring to push the materials around, score lines, flick or drop marks and build texture. 

The threads that bind my work irrespective of media are curiosity and fluidity.  I find it hard to let go of the wondering beauty of this place which I now call home.

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