Golden finishes on the forest floor
- Tuesday employs the Japanning lacquer technique
- A single piece can require 25 to 40 layers of European lacquer to achieve its detailed effect
- Her pieces draw upon the nature and magical atmosphere of 17th century Sottobosco Dutch painting
Without the gentle encouragement of a school art teacher, the world may never have seen Tuesday Riddell’s enchanting artwork. Thanks to this nudge, Tuesday studied painting at City & Guilds art school, and went on to receive a fellowship in historic decorative surfaces. This is where she discovered her favoured artistic muse: Japanning, a European form of lacquer work. Crafting with countless layers of gold and silver, coromandel, shell and pearl, her lacquer illustrations boast a mystical note. After receiving the Radcliffe Trust’s Cockpit Arts Award, Tuesday stepped forward into her first solo exhibition. Her work, best experienced in person due to its way of dancing with daylight, has now been displayed at the Messums Gallery, where it is unveiling the wonder of the craft and her unique style to the public.
Interview
- Where does your love for your craft come from?
- I always loved making things and painting. Having grown up around gardeners in my family, I love nature, too. I used to build tiny houses and furniture out of twigs, leaves and plants in the hope that small animals or insects (or fairies!) would use them.
- What was the first object you ever made?
- The first object I made using European lacquer was a small wooden study of some golden bees flying around daisies. I practised cutting the gold very thinly. It felt very precious seeing all of the different elements come together when creating this jewel-like surface. After that, I just wanted to make more.
- What draws you to the materials you work with?
- Gold has always been attractive to me. It has an ability to glow and bring a warmth to things, almost as though it has its own light, and it shifts in colour throughout the day. I was drawn to lacquer because it possessed a depth and richness that my oil paintings could not quite achieve.
- Is your inspiration linked to a particular place?
- I mostly draw from my imagination and from what I experience whilst spending time observing and taking videos of nature. As a child, I wanted to film for David Attenborough’s Planet Earth series. I think my art is a small way of living out that dream!
Tuesday Riddell is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015
Works
Where
Tuesday Riddell
