This month, we’re excited to spotlight Steph Weaver, a talented Devon and Cornwall-based artist whose work captures a deep sense of place. Steph has spent over 30 years living in West Cornwall and the past 7 years in Devon, and her creative journey has been shaped by the dramatic coastal landscapes of the Southwest.
Steph studied Fine Art at Exeter College, the School of Art, and Plymouth University, and she is also an alumna of the Newlyn School of Art. Her practice blends painting, printmaking, and even natural pigment gathering, always rooted in her love for the land and sea.
In this artist interview, Steph shares her inspiration, influences, and creative process.
Q. Where have you found inspiration lately?
A. I am always inspired by walking the beautiful Southwest coast path. Right now, I find the emerging colours of Autumn to be so beautiful!
Q. Is there a piece of art or a project that you are particularly excited about right now?
A. I am particularly inspired by the method of painterly printmaking at the moment. It enables me to enjoy both of my first loves – painting and printmaking in one go! I also get excited about collecting small amounts of pigment from places I walk. The raw pigment is dried and ground down to create a paint colour or to mix with a ready-made paint.
Q. What kinds of tools or references do you like to use when creating artwork?
A. When working with oil paint, I like to use expressive and gestural mark-making with large brushes and palette knives; I am quite messy and I think that is why I also love painterly printmaking (it is less precise than some other printmaking forms).
Q. What artists or artworks (from your life or art history) do you admire or consider influential to your work, and why?
A. I love the work of Joan Eardley for her depictions of Scottish landscapes; she worked out in all weathers to produce beautiful landscapes with a crossover of realism and abstraction. I don’t paint in all weathers but love to walk, photograph and sketch as part of my aim to document the landscape in order to inform a painting or print.
I really admire contemporary artist Anita Reynolds for her abstract landscapes, primarily in printmaking. For Still Life and Landscape, I love Mary Fedden’s work which influenced my egg tempera still life pieces.
Q. What advice do you have for other new or aspiring artists?
A. ‘Follow your dreams step by step’. I was previously a nurse and dreamt of being an artist and bit by bit it has happened with small steps towards the goal! Take whatever opportunities and learn alongside other artists.
Q. Professionally, what has been your biggest achievement so far?
A. I guess going back to school and gaining a distinction in the FdA Fine Art degree course and then being part of a show at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens following the Year Long Studio Practice Course at Newlyn School of Art.
Q. What is your first memory of creating art?
A. My parents encouraged us to be creative at home. I have lots of early memories of creating cards and ‘presents’ for people on birthdays and at Christmas.
Q. How do you spend your time when you’re not creating artwork?
A. Walking the Southwest Coast Path and swimming if it’s not too cold! I am also a carer for my 97-year-old Mum and for our daughter who has long-term chronic health issues.
Q. What work do you most enjoy doing?
A. I love the journey of creating pieces. It’s always exciting to see something emerge, often unexpectedly.
Q. What is your dream project?
A. To carry on working in the places I love (Devon and Cornwall mostly)!
Thank you, Steph, for sharing your inspiring journey and giving us such a vivid window into your creative world.
To explore more of Steph’s mixed media artwork inspired by Cornwall and Devon landscapes, and to see her painterly printmaking experiments, be sure to follow her on Instagram.