Alisha Valenzuela Quotes

On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France.

The majority of my work is from life. I spend most fine days from May to October painting outside.

I used to spend most of my free time on the beach playing in the rock pools, swimming, flying kites, and occasionally horse riding.

In some parts of the world there is very little tidal movement.

It`s a terrible thing wishing that it can be someone else`s tragedy.

My work all stems from my enjoyment of the medium. I also have a passion for colour, strong colours, clashing colours, all colours.

I love the sea`s sounds and the way it reflects the sky. The colours that shimmer across its surface are unbelievable. This, combined with the colour of the water over white sand, surprises me every time.

I was told I was talented when I applied to Falmouth School of Art and that I should consider skipping the course and proceeding directly to degree level.

I studied for my degree in London and consequently ended up spending five years away from Cornwall. I deliberately moved away from the coast to experience a different way of life.

During the winter when the weather is too poor to work outside, I do use drawings and photographs, but I change my work so it is not just a time and place study.

I want to paint big, bright, optimistic pictures of the place I love.

My great love is my home county of Cornwall, I love to sit and watch people enjoying themselves on the beaches and in the harbour towns of Cornwall.

I have been surrounded by artists and paintings throughout my life. My father Ted Dyer is an artist, and from a very early age I have spent time painting and drawing.

I realised that if I did what I wanted to do, it would work.

My father is a well known artist, Ted Dyer, who has been painting for many years. Our work is very different, but growing up surrounded by paintings, paints, easels and art books does have an effect.

I really enjoy squeezing out a big lump of paint directly onto the canvas and leaving it; fresh, immediate and sometimes shocking.

I use about 20 different colours to retain the luminance in my work.

I have lived in Cornwall from the age of 4, so I have always been aware of the artistic heritage that the county has. I feel very proud to be able to connect to this.

Ever charming, ever new, when will the landscape tire the view?

I used to own a dingy and can still sail one if pushed, but I like the pleasure boats.

I am not so keen on modern yachts because they are predominantly white. I am lucky to live in Falmouth because of the variety of boats on the water.

My optimism for life carried through my work.

Digital media has destroyed much of the magic and mystery of the medium.

And he that will this health deny, down among the dead men let him lie.

I decided to become a painter when my first four paintings where all published and attracted a great deal of interest. I exhibited one of them and it was sold.

I have improved the way in which I paint. The colours are cleaner and there is more energy in the brush work.

I apply paint directly from the tube and with my fingers.

I try to complete the painting by the end of the day, and include elements that I observe throughout the day, dogs, birds, people, fishermen.

I paint what I see, not what a camera would see.

Painting is really good fun, I have always enjoyed it. As long as I paint what I want with the freedom that I enjoy, I never tire.

The most amazing thing to me about the sea is the tide. A harbour like St. Ives is totally transformed in a very short space of time by the arrival or departure of the sea.

While I was at college studying design I decided to paint. I was also greatly inspired by the colours that I had seen on my travels in the Brazilian Rain forest.

St Michaels Mount is a favourite place of mine; people will walk across to the Mount all day and assume they will be able to walk home. The spectacle of hundreds of people realising that the path they walked over on is disappearing under several feet of water is very amusing.

The paintings by Van Gough and Chagall had a big influence on me.

I still take photographs for my own use, personal studies. I do not feel that I can fully express my views through the medium and this is why I have moved towards painting.

I use a wide selection of colours. It is impossible to produce work like mine using only the primary colours as they only mix a certain range of colour.

The lifestyle that an artist can have, the freedom to wander in the landscape with no real pressure or deadlines, was a very attractive one.