Paula Hallam has always been painting, drawing and taking photographs of the landscapes that enchant and inspire her to be her authentic self. The visual language she uses has long been inspired by a love of dramatic landscapes and their sense of place. Her recent practice involves breaking free from representational form and building a visual language that is a more of an instinctive response to the subject rather than being trapped by the traditions of western art teaching.

Painting is seen as very out of fashion in the world of art at present. This makes her artistic enquiry even more exciting, knowing that she is channelling her own vision and not just that of seeking popularity.

Wales is a very strong vein running through her visual work. The constantly changing weather and remote, ancient almost tundra like wilderness is a recurring theme within her picture frame, sketch book or view finder. Over the last fifteen years she has been either a regular visitor or resident in Wales and was recently married in Pembrokeshire.

Paula studied at Coventry University and The University of Derby. She has been an Artist in Residence at the Kunstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Germany and has had several UK exhibitions, including at The Usher Gallery/The Collection in Lincoln. Some of her photography work has been in print & published online. She is currently working on a new body of work for future exhibition.

The two week residency will provide Paula with a valuable opportunity to re-immerse herself in the landscape of Snowdonia. She will make an emotional response (through drawing, painting & photography) to catch the changing light, weather and feed on “nature” of this area of Wales which even through decades of mining has so far survived the onslaught on “Human Urbanisation”.