AAH YES Studio – The Artists’ Journal

Can you tell us how AAH YES STUDIO came about?

I set up the studio originally to do branding and graphic design. I’d worked in marketing for a really long time and wanted to immerse myself in the creative side of things a lot more.

I was finding that almost all of my clients wanted digital-only work and so I started creating prints and paintings as a way to put something physical out into the world with my stamp on it.

Lockdown gave me some time to experiment with putting more of myself into the studio and now I mainly run it as an art practice. 

Your work has developed from graphic design into painting. Can you tell us more about the starting point for your paintings and does your background in Graphics play a role?

What a great question! I still use graphic techniques to create all of my pieces.

They start life in the physical world, as hand cut card, sculpted clay or other found objects. These organic forms have really interesting irregularities that would be very hard to replicate digitally.

Once I have a set of forms I’m happy with I’ll scan them and turn them into illustrative compositions using graphic techniques. I love working on a computer to compose. It’s so flexible & freeing and I can quickly run through ideas & iterations without wasting resources in the studio.

Once I have a couple of artworks I’m happy with I’ll get them onto the canvas and start painting.

Moving the art between physical and digital spaces allows wonderful intricacies to emerge. For me, it’s these subtle marks and obscurities that elevate a piece, adding a depth and complexity without overcomplicating the subject matter.

The use of colour is important in your art. Are you inspired by other artists who incorporate colour into their work? And which ones?

Definitely. Secondary to the forms themselves, colour is what gets most of my attention. My work tends to straddle abstract and figurative and colour is where I can help the viewer make sense of what is on display.

My prints have always been very saturated and vibrant but with paint it’s a little different. At the moment I’m enjoying deeper colours, rich browns, deep reds paired with bitter yellows. I like to explore tension in colours and see if I can use palettes containing shades I wouldn’t usually choose to see what happens.

On the traditional side of things, Joan Miró, Lee Krasner and Sophie Taeuber-Arp are all sources of inspiration.

Currently; Galina Munroe, Irina Patrusheva and Bertrand Fournier. I love what they’re creating and always excited to see what they’ve been up to on Instagram.