"I am primarily driven by an exploration of colour and form. My objective is to bring an emotional element and aesthetic balance to my work. I try to depict the subtleties of the landscape and am happiest making images from the smallest, most insignificant detail - the challenge being to portray the essence of what is about my subject matter that has taken my eye."
Valda Bailey
Valda Bailey (b.1958) is a British artist and photographer. Her work is greatly informed by her background in painting and influences come as much from artists as photographers. Her intention is less about portraying a literal representation but rather conveying feelings evoked by the landscape and she achieves this using various techniques to blur detail and abstract shapes.
"I am primarily driven by an exploration of colour and form. My objective is to bring an emotional element and aesthetic balance to my work. I try to depict the subtleties of the landscape and am happiest making images from the smallest, most insignificant detail - the challenge being to portray the essence of what is about my subject matter that has taken my eye. (...) I have been influenced by many great talents; some of my inspirations include Jay Maisel. Also, Raphael Shevelev, Chris Friel, Rob Hudson, Paul Kenny, Dough Chinnery, Fay Godwin, Ernst Haas, Aaron Siskind, Andre Kertesz, Vivian Maier, Sarah Moon, Arnold Newman, Klavdij Sluban, Alexey Titarenko, Charlie Waite to name just a few. Painters whose work I particularly admire include Bonnard, Cezanne, Chagall, Diebenkorn, Kandinsky, Klee, Matisse, Rothko, Picasso, Van Gogh, Frankenthaler and many others." - Valda Bailey