Abigail Reed, Keep Looking Up

Abigail Reed is an artist living and working in Frome, Somerset at The Silk Mill Studios.

Drawing is the dominating force in her creative practice, whether it is ink, charcoal, pastel or paint, it has been used to create larger than life beasts, delicate moths and now, landscapes. “There is something magical about using the bare minimum of materials to conjure up a world of ones own, drawing is so readily available, you just pick up the charcoal and start drawing and that immediacy suits my thinking. You have to work with energy and vigour to capture the idea. If a drawing becomes overworked, it loses something and the moment is gone.”

Recently, Abigail has found inspiration in the landscapes around Frome. She walks frequently and takes photographs which are then translated into drawings back at the studio. She seeks transformative moments like being in the forest shrouded in mist or walking at dusk to find the last of the sun. Whether it’s being reflected off an impassable puddle or casting its warmth over a snowy track, the quest is for light and wherever it falls. A local disused quarry is a favourite place, a desolate area abandoned after use. It has now become a place of hope as young silver birch trees populate it and nature thrives in the absence of human life. Working on the wall in her studio, Abigail uses charcoal that is layered heavily onto the paper, light is extracted with fingertips and a combination of erasers that are cut small to capture detail. Occasionally, a watercolour wash is applied before drawing with sticks of willow charcoal that are used with extreme precision to draw fragile saplings and branches that reach towards the sky.