Nuala Taylor

For me, painting is an intensely absorbing experience: the push and pull of paint across canvas , rubbing off, layering on, rubbing off again, taking risks, responding intuitively to how the paint is performing, not knowing where it's going. When it goes right - a great sense of accomplishment; when it doesn't - a great sense of 'I don't know how to do this any more!' As Degas said, ' Painting is easy when you do't know how, but very difficult when you do"

Light and space are the two qualities I most like try and capture in my landscapes . Being outdoors is extremely important. I try to walk whenever I can, especially by the sea. It's a complete antidote to the stresses and strains of everyday life where we too often find ourselves 'cabbin'd, cribbed, confined' . I like to be able to stretch my eyes: wide skies, sweeping vistas. Moorland and coast are my natural subjects and even in my figurative work, my figures are usually interacting with the landscape

I like to think of myself as a very quiet eco warrior. I am never going to glue myself to the M25. But through my paintings, I hope to evoke in the viewer an emotional response to landscape, to remind them how important it is, how much we have to lose - and by extension - why we must do all we can to protect it.