P.A.R.C. Mag: Briefly, describe your childhood. What was life like for you growing up? Where did you grow up?
Kerry: "I’m an emerging abstract artist from the U.K. living in Shoreditch, East London, close to Hackney where I grew up. I had a great childhood despite my parents divorcing when I was quite small. My older sister and I were brought up by my mother. We grew up in my mother’s large family in the inner London borough of Hackney. Hackney, is a very culturally diverse area in East London, a real melting pot of people and cultures. Everyone mixes. It’s a great place with real character.
Shoreditch, where I live now, is a cool place to live. It has a vibrant art scene mixed with trendy bars and nightlife."
"I come from a very creative family. My grandmother and great-grandmother were seamstresses. My great-grandmother worked in Haute Couture, and my grandmother made bridal dresses and leatherwear for 80’s pop/soul singers. I have always been in awe of her talent. My grandmother was always very interested in art in her youth, and I get a lot of my artistic self from both her and my mother."
"My mother works within the creative field as a Visual Merchandiser and is very talented. I also had uncles who were into the arts as musicians, artists, and actors, so creativity has been part of my background really."
P.A.R.C. Mag: When did you first discover your talent for art? How did you stay encouraged and pursue your talent?
Kerry: "I suppose I knew that I had a bit of a flare for art when I was a kid. I always drew really well to accompany my stories/writing at school and always got positive feedback from the teachers. I think that probably fuelled my confidence, but I was always drawing at home from as far back as I can remember. I used to doodle on the backs of envelopes and spare pieces of paper. I think my grandmother still has some of them and she is 85 years old!"
"I chose art as one of my subjects to specialize in at school, then my art teacher submitted my work to apply for a place on a foundation course for me at the prestigious Central Saint Martins School of Art when I was 16. I hadn’t known that she had done this until I was accepted. A few years later, I studied art and design at Kingsway and Princeton College in London, then went on to study a Fine Arts Degree when I was 21 at the London Guildhall University. I didn’t enjoy the course structure there so I switched courses, and studied Communications and Audio Visual Production instead."
"My uncle was an artist who had a very different style from me, specializing in landscapes and portraits. He encouraged me to get back into painting and drawing. I think once you have a talent for anything creative it never really leaves you. The good thing is that you can always pick it up again."
P.A.R.C. Mag: Where do you draw your inspiration for some of your pieces? I noticed that you use very bold and beautiful colors is this something that you're attracted to or, something that you want to include in every painting?
Kerry: "Yes, I do like to use big bright colors when I’m not working on black and whites. I think I reflect my own nature of opposites there - I am very much an all or nothing kind of person. My inspiration comes mainly from within. I usually approach the canvas with absolutely no plan or an idea of what I am going to paint until I start with a mark or splash of color, then I see where it takes me. Some actually call this ‘inspirational art’."
"It’s really not structured at all unless someone has commissioned me to draw something specific. I can’t express how much I enjoy the creativity that flows through instant-working. It’s really instinctive without being methodical or precise. A lot like me really."
"My main aim was always to love what I do, share it and hope that someone else would feel good too. Spreading positivity is really infectious."