Deborah Cauchi is our amazing artist of the month! Deborah has created these stunning pieces of artwork everyone can enjoy!
Introduce yourself please…
Hi, I’m Deborah Cauchi, born in Sunderland in 1968. I graduated from Sunderland college with a Diploma in Art and design and later returned to The University of Sunderland as a mature student graduation with a BA honours in fine Art in 2009. I currently live in Sunderland and work from a studio in my garden.
Tell us how you first started out as an artist?
From childhood I have always been drawing and painting. Paint sets along with sketch pads and pencils were always what my pocket money went on and probably from the age of 16 at college completing portraits for family and friends. Portraiture was my first love as an artist.
What’s your background? What did you do before you were an artist?
I left school and completed my Diploma but didn’t feel that at that time there was enough opportunities as an artist in the North East ( we are talking back in the mid 1980’s) I then took a job with the photography company Kodak and after a few years moved to London with them running one of their photography labs. This is where I met my husband. Over the years I always kept my hand in with portraiture but never took it further as a career. Once my family were in full time school I had the opportunity to go back to study for my BA in Fine Art and haven’t really looked back from there.
Why do you do what you do?
My degree was my first foray into painting with oils; and it sparked that passion in me to make it my full time job, which I have been lucky enough to do. I paint every day and love working in my studio.
What inspires you?
Popular culture, cartoons, retro toys, TV, childhood memories and talking to people. Everyone seems to have had their favourite toy or tv programme, something that makes them smile when they mention it. My “toy” work really came about by accident when I was experimenting with paint and mark making. As a family we have always had a slight obsession (healthy) with retro toys so I didn’t really need to look far for inspiration. My studio is full of inspiration along with our house…. Most people who visit spend the first twenty minutes on a wander looking at our Toy collection.
How would you describe your work?
Fun, colourful and playful. I like to take that long forgotten object and give it that little moment in the spotlight… My style is realistic to a point but also has some abstract elements.
Can you tell us what you aim to achieve through your art?
My hope is to make people smile or bring back that long forgotten memory by trying to create the magic of childhood and also tell a playful visual story. I can always tell when someone has seen one of my pieces, they usually have a large smile on their face or they laugh out loud and start reminiscing about what the particular toy meant to them. I try to capture nostalgia. My hope was to see if I could, through painting, sort of recapture that sense of awe that as children we used to have with these items that had long since gone.
How do you work?
Firstly with lots of cups of tea! Can’t work without it.
My work has involved now so that I very rarely sketch anything out in a sketch book but tend to go straight to canvas and work the composition as I go. (unless I’m working on a commission – then I produce a small pen and ink sketch to show the client what I’m thinking of) I also tend to have a few paintings on the go at any one time as working in oils means waiting for layers to dry and I’m quite a quick painter.
How have you developed your work?
Over the years my work has certainly become more colourful and vibrant. My toy vocabulary has also expanded.
Who or what are your biggest influences?
I adore Margaret Morrison’s work along with Teresa N Fischer and also Sarah Graham. They all use toys, sweets, popular culture in their work but are more realist/hyperrealist in their style. It’s all about the nostalgia within their work that influences me.
What influences from The North East have inspired your work?
The people and their passions.. from football clubs to geek shops to our own local sayings. Slowly my work is starting to include more and more North East references.
What work are you most proud of?
That would probably be the pieces that are now hanging in a new Newcastle Hotel. I often receive messages from people who have stayed there and have loved the work so much that they have took the time out to let me know. That is always a lovely feeling.
Deborah has her fab artwork hung in INNSiDE @ Melia down the Newcastle Quayside! we are very proud that Deborah has her work all over the hotel, including an amazing wallpaper on the Level 5 landing!
What has been your most challenging creation?
Every commission! Honestly I am always on tender hooks when showing a client the finished piece; hoping that my vision is what they hoped for.
What’s your favourite piece of artwork?
Margaret Morrison’s Trojan Horse. The whole composition is just sublime.
What are your ambitions for the future?
To carry on painting for as long as I can. My inspiration grows daily along with my toy collection and I hope to be able to find the time to explore new compositions using more than 1 or 2 toys. Pushing my imagination in different ways; I also want to explore how I use and apply paint.
What is your story with North East Art Collective?
The gallery was always a place I’d pop into whenever I was in Newcastle; more so when completing my degree. To be fair I wasn’t sure how my work would be received as it is so different to what normally sells in the North east. The gallery obviously saw something in my work and it has been such a lovely relationship to have. They have championed me and my paintings from day one and I hope that will continue for a long long time.
Take a look at all of Deborah Cauchi’s amazing work here! She has created a fantastic gift range as well as her originals!
