Meet a Maker - Louisa Foley

As part of an ongoing project, we have been inviting Leeds based creatives to paint on a canvas to decorate our new store. Each of the canvases is painted with a base colour to represent the different shop areas of our store, but what the artists paint is entirely up to them! Louisa Foley is the third artist to take part in the project, we caught up with her to find out about what she has created for us.

Tell us about what you have created for our canvas project? I've created a psychedelic doodle beginning with the image of a blue lady and let the drawing spiral out of control.

Which materials did you use and why? Posca pens and acrylic paint. These materials both have bold pigment and leave strong colourful marks.

Where do you make most of your work? On my living room floor which I'm hoping won't be a permanent fixture!

What are your favourite creative tools? Pens, felt tips are my weakness I love colour and think there the simplest way to pop colour into anything.

Who are your biggest creative influences? Frida Kahlo, Mike Perry, Grayson Perry, 60s graphics and artwork, psychedelic music and all things kitsch!!!

If you could only use one material in your work, what would it be and why? Felt tips! They're easy to carry around and are a constant source of colour.

What was the best exhibition or art event you went to last year? Throw up at sunny bank mill. I got to see a lot of the hard work that went into this event (as well as getting a chance to get involved myself) it was a wonderful display of artists of all walks of life coming together and making something fun! Carrot boy did a fab job!

If you had a tip for artists starting out, what would it be? Your tutors are often wrong, trust yourself and do what feels right. The second you're out of education you realise that they're opinions mean squat!

You can see more of Louisa's work here.