Sue Elswick

Collage and Stencil Technique

As well as noting the vibrant use of colour, the viewer of a Sue Elswick painting will no doubt immediately notice the use of collage and stencil work. This is a technique which Sue Elswick really has been perfecting in recent years, so that she has emerged with a style that is deeply characterful, playful and highly distinctive. By layering stamps and other postcard style embellishments onto the seaside scene, Sue's artwork makes you think of holiday postcards sent to loved ones. This charming style means that these coastal scenes are celebrated in a way which is not affectedly grand or overly solemn, but very much connected to the everyday human experience of joy and pleasure. The view that these artworks create of the English southern coastline is one that highlights its beauty but in a way which remains far more grounded than is often the case in seascape themed artwork.

Playful Coastal Artwork

Sue plays with this technique of collage so that, even though the technique clearly evokes the seaside postcard, it also at times introduces images and words that come from outside that context. This clever use of the layering of stencilled words and images creates a visual experience which rewards close attention. In this way, the artworks function on two levels. They will firstly be a source of calming contentedness, as you can look at them each day and enjoy the feeling of peace and happiness brought about by the images of gentle, sunny seaside village life. But on top of that general mood created, the paintings present interesting additional sensations on each view through the use of the detailed layering effect.