Artist
Jay Harper
Jay studied fashion in Falmouth before interning with Vivienne Westwood. After a year of life in the city, she retreated back to the calm of Cornwall, where she began to paint. The meditative state and calmness she finds in painting is what comes across in her work, and while she loves to play with different subjects and techniques, it’s this innate feeling of peace and calm which radiates through each piece.
Jay paints instinctively, focusing on capturing a feeling, so will often use different methods dependent on mood. Sometimes painting from a direct reference, other times planning an idea in her mind, and letting that come through in a more free-form spirit. She paints with oil on wood, often wiping away paint she’s applied to reveal pre-primed colours, and playing with the idea of when a work is finished, ever careful to not paint past the feeling.
AVAILABLE ARTWORKS
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My House and Painting
Discover more about 'My House and Painting' by Jay Harper.
"'My House and Painting' is a collection that explores the similarities between interior space and painting. Whether it be composition, colour or shape, I have always decorated my house closely to how I paint. Space is hugely important to me, the placement of objects, artworks and collected pottery all working alongside each other creating calm. I feel like our eyes scan space, just like they might a painting, everything has its position and together creates a mood. I treat my house like the wood I work onto with oil paint, it is a big artwork. This series of paintings reflects all of these notions, and the colours used are the colours that are found in my home." - My House and Painting, Jay Harper
March Drop 2025
“'Farm Studies' is a collection inspired by my surroundings moving out to the countryside from the city for a period of time. This collection has felt like my comfort, grounding and exploration in an environment I welcomed. A new studio space felt like fresh perspective, and a sanctuary in a big house share. These works felt like they arrived freely, and are an insight into how I was feeling to be living in amongst so much nature.” - Farm Studies, Jay Harper
November Drop 2024
"Sometimes the things we’ve learnt are the very things that hold us back. PLAY is a collection I created with that mindset, a child at play. Each one of these works comes from a story I’ve imagined while painting. I wanted to feel free to create whatever felt right in the moment, not constricted by rules or limitations I might put on myself. To be bold with line, shape and colour and allow a simplicity that doesn’t have to make sense. A development on my last collection, I’ve continued an exploration of deconstructed still life subjects from my head." — Jay Harper, Play
From My Head
“’From My Head’ is a collection of paintings that draw inspiration from imagery, shapes, and colour combinations stored away in my brain. The collection pairs the comfort I find in simplicity with a subtle playfulness, helping the still life subjects take on a strangeness that gives them a life of their own.” - Jay Harper
