Jaime Poole

Jamie Poole was born in 1973 in Northampton, England. He studied at the School of Design and Ceramics in Stoke-on- Trent Staffordshire for a BA Honours Design: Surface Pattern and graduated in 1996. Jamie has exhibited widely around the UK where his work has primarily been Landscape paintings and a hand printed ‘Landscape Sofa’. In recent years he has been an active member of the arts event known as ‘Open Studios’ in Northamptonshire and has produced commissioned works for private clients. Jamie continues to be inspired by his job as a teacher of Art at Northampton School for Girls where he has been working for the last 8 years.

‘Sophie’ is the first of a new series of work in which he uses the printed word to create an image.

Poems included and collaged into the painting ‘Sophie’ – The poems for this work were chosen by the sitter.

  • The Highwayman – Alfred Noyes
  • The Lady of Shallot – Tennyson
  • Remember – Christina Rossetti
  • Something and Nothing – Sophie Hannah
  • If this be the Verse – Larkin
  • One Flesh – Elizabeth Jennings

Website: www.jamie-poole.co.uk

Artist Statement: Sophie

The things that make people who they are come from their experiences of the world around them and the people they meet. For Sophie, the sitter in this portrait, English literature has been a great passion. The verses of a specially selected collection of poems have been carefully dissected and layered on the support of this painting to create her portrait. The text meanders and flows around the curves of her features and is embedded deep in her eyes creating an intricate mosaic surface. The tales in the typography have become entwined within her image and are part of Sophie’s identity.
The creation of this work has been an intimate meditation and contemplation of the sitter. Jamie Poole has created a portrait that brings him closer to his subject. The narratives that are collaged create bonds between his practice through the process and the relationship of the artist to his sitter. As text is layered the words, lines and phrases are repeated and embedded into the work creating a unifying physicality.

Process: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamiepoole/4952202720/in/photostream/

Details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamiepoole/5489980210/in/photostream/