Introducing Abigail Edgar and her semi-abstract art

Abigail Edgar is a visual artist based in North West London, working in a variety of media including drawing, painting and printmaking. She is a graduate from Kingston University, Central St Martin’s School of Art, Hampstead School of Art and The Royal Drawing School, and has authored several books on painting.

Here we catch up with her about her journey so far… 

Tell us more about your journey into the art world.

I was born in Newcastle, and my mum was an art teacher. I’ve always loved painting and drawing, and I was always encouraged to explore my passion. By the time it came to college, art was much more conceptual, and my foundation tutor talked me into taking an illustration course which led to much more applied arts and design work.

When I had my children, and the balance between work and home life became more pressing, I realised that in the time I had I wanted to focus much more on work that was personal to me, rather than fulfilling someone else’s brief. This led me to enroll on several different courses, experimenting with different techniques to get me over that fear of a blank page. As I grew in confidence, I realised I didn’t want to slavishly copy what was in front of me, I wanted to create something from the heart, pieces which encourage people to slow down and appreciate the wonders that I find in the everyday.

How would you describe your signature style and technique?

My work is a push and pull between abstract and realistic work. Everything I do is rooted in observation and drawing, but I try to find a way of using that which doesn’t spell everything out for the viewer; I find that more interesting to look at myself.

I use many different media, for instance painting, charcoal drawings, collage and printmaking, but what excites me most is using a semi-abstract style, leaving unresolved areas alongside more detailed and textural work. I love it when something grabs you from a distance and draws you in, but leaves space for the eye to wander, and I try to edit out the unnecessary details, so you have a direct response to the subject.

Can you tell us about your latest work? Where did you find inspiration and what is the story behind it?

While in the last couple of years, and for a previous solo show, I was focused more on collaged works, I have been coming back to painting recently. I have been enjoying revisiting familiar places to track the changing light through the seasons, and focusing on trees and semi-abstract florals, also working at a larger scale in charcoal.

Trees and the natural world can help me process my feelings – there always seems to be a darkness lurking behind the beauty, somehow, and these subjects help me draw out what I can find hard to put into words. To show brightness you need shadow to help it stand out – that contrast helps me make work which people can hopefully feel on a visceral level, something which hits them directly.

I want to capture strong feelings of place, not just a nice description of it – connecting you to the earth, the history of a place and something more permanent than us. Trees are waiting and witnessing, they’ve seen so much and survived. Artists and poets find it of comfort that the cycles of nature carry on regardless of our lives – in that sense there is a spiritual element to my work, I’m not just making a painting, but bearing witness to what’s around me.

Are there any exhibitions or events you are planning in the near future?

My upcoming solo exhibition ‘Trees and Florals’ will take place at 67 York Street Gallery in Marylebone between 11^th – 16^th November. I’ll be open 11am – 6pm daily, and the private view will be 14^th November – please RSVP to [email protected]

This show will also feature highlights from a series many years in the making – drawings made on the school run as my two children have grown up, which feels particularly poignant as my eldest has just left for university.

What is the best advice you’ve been given as an artist?

Give yourself permission to work in any way you want – if it doesn’t work out, you don’t have to show it to anyone! We all seem to have self-imposed restrictions, and it’s always been most helpful to me when I have been encouraged to shake those off.

Find out more:

Website: https://www.abigailedgar.co.uk/

Instagram: @abigail.edgar

DISCOVER ANOTHER ARTIST STORY HERE.