My love for art comes from the spaces where contrasting ideas collide: the underworld and the overworld, the danger of the open ocean and the safety of the harbour, the pull of travel and the comfort of home. This fascination drives me to take wild, intuitive paintings and turn them into intentional, structured pattern designs—allowing two very different worlds to live together and enhance each other.

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The Creative Process

My work exists in a vibrant, continuous loop:

• The Spark: I like to spend time in places which can act as portals, bridging two different places, for example on cliff edges, shorelines, harbours. Observing folk and creatures, and diving deep into northern folklore.

• The Fusion: Combining wild intuitive, expressive paintings with rich illustrative elements.

• The Evolution: Translating these marks and stories into unique surface pattern designs, which then directly inspire my next collection of paintings.

 

 

"I am interested how we can deepen our

connection and respect to place through story.

I want to bring colour, energy, wonder, and magic into people’s homes and lives. I love the contrast of earthy tones alongside zingier, brighter colours. I enjoy wild mark-making and illustrative imagery in the same sphere, creating pictures and patterns with story, depth, balance, and wild freedom vibes."

 

All rights reserved, please do not reproduce any images without consent ©Sarah McFadyen, The Whoosh Hoose​