Fiona Watson Facts

Fiona Watson was born in Newfoundland, however has lived in Scotland for most of her life as that os where her family comes from. She has also lived in Rhode Island, USA and then London UK. She studied Biological Sciences at Leicester University and then started editing journals for several years. She then went on to studying printmaking at the Glasgow Print Studio.

On her website, she has answered a numerous amount of questions to explain herself as an artist. She claims etching, digital artwork, collage, photography, short films and land art is what allows her to express herself as an artist. the influences behind her work originate from everyday objects, she she changed to be seen in a slightly different way, or just slightly rearranged. She still finds some influences from the Biological Sciences she studied, and elaborated on the fact that science and mathematics still fascinate her through the use of patterns in nature.

Her creative process is influenced through the use of that is immediately available around her, which allows her to go with the flow. The artist claims that photography was only used to be for the use of painting and printmaking, but over the years it has become very important to her. She states "the immediacy of digital photography and photoshop has changed the way I work and see things." I relate to this because photoshop really opened up my eyes to how much depth you can take a photo, and how much more meaning you can give it. Furthermore, she express that ultimately she is trying to get an audience to see things the way she sees them, in terms of nature and the environment. It appears all the objects she uses are easily accessible such as sticks, stones, wood, flowers, pieces of paper etc, and then she just rearranges the pieces to draw attention to it. However she slows her work to be left to the viewers imagination but leaving some negative space within each piece of artwork, to allow the viewer to make the image their own. Overall, Watson explains that making art makes her feel like electricity is running through her body, that creates a shiver down her spine.

Fiona Watson Asthetics

The subject matter within Fiona Watsons work isn’t immediately obvious, however what does jump out from her work is the natural, flattering theme of nature. Her work that involves birds, appear difficult to evaluate in terms of what the subject matter is, whereas her artwork that involves  collages and the placement of objects on a surface, seem to be collections that she has put together to become one piece of work. As an artist, Watson symbolises the beauty behind everyday life by exaggerating some of her background patterns through the use of overlapping layers. In terms of life issues, it definitely covers economical and even cultural aspects, which stem from her own ideas and interpretations of the environment and the culture around her. Her work is treated realistically with her use of harmonious, natural and organic colours, which highlights the delicacy and vulnerability of nature in today’s world. There are some digital aspects to her work e.g. the use of geometric patterns in the background behind the birds, or the use of overlapping different layers. Watson definitely incorporates some symbolism within her work through her repeated use of organic, round shapes, mainly found in the background. These circle shapes are either digitally created, or or created through the use of birds forming a circle. Her work seems to capture nature in it’s act, with birds flying and interacting with each other, however other pieces of her wok, those in the layout of a collage, don’t have any action or movement within them, although they still appear very much alive.

Her images of birds are well laid out because the branches, or the objects the birds are placed on, are used as leading lines which allows the viewers attention to be taken straight to the bird. With the birds flying around in a circle in the middle of the piece, the exaggerated organic shape creates a soothing, relaxing feeling from the photo and allows the viewer to be swept away as visually, they can see it being brought to life. All the shapes within her work create an organic flow and rhythm which is produced my her positioning of the content within her images. Her work of collages work well in terms of her composition creating leading lines through the use of the shapes from the objects she has places. The simplicity of the arrangement is what allows the image to come to life and express the artists delicacy and emotion. Her use of patterns are obvious around the boarders of her images, as she cleverly incorporates natural objects such as tree’s or branches to harmonise with the birds. Her tones throughout her work emphasize a harmonious structure, particularly through the use of complimentary colours such as orange and blue, green and purple, and yellow and purple. The overall arrangement of her work is visually pleasing to me because the intimate yet soothing simplicity is what makes the images come to life. Even though some of her work is quite busy and full up of different layers, there is a sense of organisation which links back to her interpretation of nature. 

There is a sense of spontaneity through out her work which particularly focuses on the freeness and unexpectedness from nature. I do think her work has been planned, both images of birds and the collages have had much planning and thought put into them. I can see how some people may find her work chaotic, however her use of soft tones allow her image to be transformed into more of a happy and calm masterpiece. Fiona Watson is both a photographer and artist, therefore she uses this to her ability and incorporates the two together to give her images more depth. The reality of the birds in her images contrast with the more digital, handmade designs and patterns she includes in the background 

Her work makes me feel calm, but also enchanted. A lot of her images remind me of dreams, or fairytale stories. This is because of her delicate approach to express her version of nature, and express a beautiful, scenic image of what she calls 'everyday life'. Her work also makes me feel the same as when I read poetry; I may not necessarily know whats going on or the story behind it, however I am intrigued by her use of paint, and colour, and use of tone, and use of composition the same way I am intrigued by some poets use of words. She's able to tell a story without giving away too much information. The impression I get of her feelings behind each piece, is that she's could be feeling melancholy, or maybe even excited because she fills the page up with so many ideas that it's as though it's an escape to allow her brain to relax.