Deborah Lanyon Abstract Paintings

This painting was inspired by a jazz concert in France. The vibrant colours and shapes were a response to the rhythms in the music. I use acrylic paint as...

Deborah Lanyon Lake Original Painting Size: H 100cm x W 150cm Sold Unframed Please note that in situ images are purely an indication of how a piece may look. This painting was inspi...

I often use collage or other mixed media. I favour acrylic, a quick-drying medium, to make the collage adhere to the surface of the canvas. I tend to work rapidly and very physically, with the canvases positioned on the floor, checking them periodically by raising them onto a wall or easel. Given the large scale on which I work (I regularly produce paintings which are six or even eight feet by four), 1 find that working on the floor is the best means to ensure a dynamicapplication of the paint. At this preliminary stage, the process of composition is more visceral and intuitive; when the canvas is raised, I work more intellectually, to check and shape the direction that the painting has been taking. These are quite separate ‘moments’ which I compare to chess; on the floor I ‘attack’ the object from an emotional stance; when the painting is vertical, I enter a mode of ‘defence’, editing what has gone before. In recent years, I have had solo shows with James Colman...