Eleanor Meredith
"Part of this collection is about the parent and child relationship that I experience with my own kids. Often frustrating, funny and totally absorbing, I feel like the same words can be used to describe parenting and working with clay!"
Eleanor Meredith's work is playful, preoccupied with depicting form with minimal gesture and a lightness with colour. Surprise is integral to the way that she makes, responding to forms and shapes that have been made, trying to solve a problem. She approaches generating new work in ways which facilitate unexpected outcomes and humour by playing with proportions and animal relationships.
Eleanor’s work cross the artistic disciplines of painting, animation and ceramics. She has exhibited her work at National Media Museum, Rochelle School, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Tramway Glasgow, Oval Space. And, has created work for clients as diverse as Southbank Centre, BBC, Thames and Hudson, Hotel Bloom, and the Scottish Government. She teaches part time and delivers workshops for adults and children.
Gallery Collection
Image Gallery
Artist Q&A
When did you know you wanted to work in illustration, has it always been a passion?
At art college it felt like a good fit for me, and it has stayed that way. Drawing, working with minimal line and expression working with humour has always been integral to my work.
When did your work with clay begin? And when did your illustration start to come into what you were making?
I started around 10 years ago at the college I was teaching art at; I was always eyeing up my colleagues work in the ceramics department and one day I joined in one of their courses too.
Your work on paper and clay distills 3D forms to expressive lines and seemingly abstract drawings to 3D forms, is it natural for you to switch between the 2D and 3D? Are you approaching each with the same mindset?
It is a really similar mindset, I do feel less control with clay, but I relish this. It is problem solving and the surprise is the best bit.
Where do the ideas behind your work come from? Are you an avid people/animal watcher or pure imagination?
I'm an avid people watcher and sketcher. Processing happens through drawing for me, and I like the blurry lines where imaginary worlds seem possible.
The playfulness and humour within your work is infectious, they radiate a lot of joy, does this echo the making process? Are you able to work on a bad day?
I do try and work around how I am feeling, so try doing admin type things when not feeling it. Taking a bit of a break, working in different ways and mediums helps me come back to clay often helps me have a bit of fresh energy to it too.
There is so much character in your work, each one has its own strong personality, is it hard sometimes to let them go?
Yes! I definitely get quite attached to them, but equally it makes me really happy when they are in other people's lives and they connect with the work.