Alexandra Last
Alexandra Last was born in Norwich and works from rural Norfolk. She took her foundation at Great Yarmouth College of Art and Design and followed it with a BA in Fine Art at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, part of Birmingham City University, graduating with a First.
She works mostly in oils and watercolours, layering pigments for the textures and marks each one leaves as it dries. Her subjects are landscape, coast and inland water, portraits, still lifes and animals, as well as digital work.
Artist Statement
Born in Norwich and now based in rural Norfolk, I am an artist who has always had a deep fascination for all things visual, with a compulsion to render them on paper.
I work mostly in oils and watercolours. I love to layer pigments as I have a deep fascination with colour. Each pigment dries differently, and I love seeing the textures and marks the dried paint can leave. It allows for new discoveries and also moments of horror versus moments of sheer visual pleasure. It makes the painting process more interesting. I usually paint landscapes and portraits, although a series of still lives is in the offing.
I search for what I consider a contemporary picturesque - looking at the beauty to be found in the here and now, with both expected or unexpected vistas and subjects.