I have a lifelong love of making art and a fascination for finding the deeper narratives that connect a maker to their work. In my early career I was a fabric retailer and knitwear designer. I then studied fashion and textiles at UWE Bristol and taught fashion and textiles part-time. It was during this period I began to develop my practice in painting and mixed media.
For many years I have worked in acrylics, frequently adding other media including stitch, I have produced still life pieces, landscapes and seascapes - my pieces are often naive with no intention of being truly representational. For me my paintings have been more about my perception of places and objects as I try to capture the way I feel about a subject rather than express a visual reality. I am in love with birds, animals, trees, and nature in general - and this love of the natural world, often mixed with domestic paraphernalia and interiors and my emotional and internal view of life, is what inevitably has come out in my work over the years.
In 2018 I undertook a period of study which took my work to a deeper level where these influences became a vehicle for emotional expression based on a particular period in my life. Now, further on, my practice has developed to include abstract pieces based on landscapes and seascapes - often inspired by holidays my husband and I take in our caravan around the UK, to Devon, Cornwall, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Wales.
I’ve changed the name I work under too - so I’ve gone from my maiden name Mound, which my work has been known by for many years to my married name Hemmer - a gamble but feels more like the authentic me!
My home and studio are in the lovely Worcestershire Teme Valley, where I live with my husband John, our dear Airedale George, and Mabel our beautiful Romanian rescue dog.
