Stacey Petersen

Stacey's passion for nature, the ocean and painting stems from her childhood.

Just as our interaction with nature can inspire, uplift and energise, she aims, through her paintings to evoke a similar response. Utilising both technical skill and an experimental, spontaneous approach, she seeks to nudge watercolour beyond its traditional confines. Her semi-figurative floral paintings interpret rather than imitate reality, drawing on a mixture of illustrative and decorative elements. Embracing how the pigment and water can flow and interact on the paper, she loves how the unpredictability of the watercolour medium echos the unique and uncontrolable aspects of every wave, petal or ray of sunlight.

Stacey’s new collection, Indigo Coast is a series that focuses on connection. The connection between sky and ocean; ocean and sand; light and shadow, as well as our connection as humans to all of these. Watercolour flowing over paper captures the tonal variations created by the play of light and shadow on bare skin, while the ocean, sand and sky provide ever changing backdrops that drift in and around the figures, connecting them to the landscape. A monochromatic colour scheme speaks of simplicity and minimalism, to emphasise a sense of serene harmony and peace. It's what draws us to the coast to relax, to escape the clutter of life. For a lot of us it's a place of treasured memories, of precious time with family and holidays with friends. This series tries to evoke those feelings and memories of connections.