Art Group Wanstead member Sonia Cudd reflects on the inspiration that Wanstead Park’s annual bluebell display brings
I am inspired by all things beautiful, namely the elegant and yet goofy greyhound, my friend’s cat and practically anything with four legs. And more recently, Wanstead’s bluebells. My art was a way to relax from my stressful accountant’s day job. You could say I was a ‘creative accountant’, though the creativity was strictly reserved for my art!
Since being made redundant in April 2021, I have been fortunate to live my dream of becoming a full-time artist, which is wonderful and exciting. I opened an Etsy shop which started out featuring original, limited edition linocuts of greyhounds. Over the past few years, I have been revisiting different mediums, including screenprinting, which enabled me to produce ’functional art’ such as my Wanstead bluebell tote bags and a few prototype tea towels, which were on display at Wanstead Library last November.
I have been a member of Art Group Wanstead for a few years now and took part in last year’s bluebell art fair, for which I created my first bluebell piece, an ambitious watercolour wash with a multi-screenprint printed onto gorgeous A3 handmade paper. Unfortunately – after my strict quality control – only a few of the planned edition of 30 escaped my studio recycling bin! All was not lost as I took photos of the survivors and created a new series of bluebell digital art.
The iconic Wanstead bluebells are also the subject of my first series of artwork for 2024. Having booked the Wanstead Library showcase for the end of February, I set myself a challenge to create new art using different mediums: oils, watercolours, acrylics, linocut prints and digital art.
I wanted to create art that represents what the bluebells mean to me and the impact they have on the emotion and mood for so many locals who visit them. The bluebell wood is such a magical place and I, like so many others, have such wonderful memories of visiting them with loved ones.
I worked throughout the sometimes wet and dreary months of January and February, looking forward to spring and new beginnings as the bluebells reappear and delight as they do year after year. I love the similarities between these delicate and yet resilient flowers and my other passion, the rescue greyhound. This may seem a very random mix, but to me, both are such things of beauty – they just need a little care and our protection to enable them to bring joy and wonder into our lives.
Sonia will have a stall at the Local Makers Market at Christ Church hall on 18 May.
To view more of Sonia’s art work, visit gracecuddleart.com
