The artist was born in 1977 in Scotland and grew up in Grangemouth where the artist still continues to live to this day. Growing up in this town meant that industrial influences were ever present and hugely influential for the artist's way of working. The combination of greyness in the day time and then the luminous vibrancy of the artificial lights in the night time fascinated Derks and this w
The artist was born in 1977 in Scotland and grew up in Grangemouth where the artist still continues to live to this day. Growing up in this town meant that industrial influences were ever present and hugely influential for the artist's way of working. The combination of greyness in the day time and then the luminous vibrancy of the artificial lights in the night time fascinated Derks and this was later to become a huge part of her works.
Education saw Derks embarking on a yearlong course in Art and Craft at Falkirk Collge of Technology to which then became her stepping stone for her BA Hons in Fine art drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art.
When embarking on a three month exchange student program in Derk's third year at University, the artist made her way to Barcelona and it was here that the night scenes of vibrancy and energetic colours would really become part of her work and this was to steer the artist's way of into new directions.
Night scenes are the artist's favourable subject matter when it comes to ideas and inspirations, particularly cityscapes. The reflections in which are created by the lights evokes a certain feeling for the artist alongside the noise, the people, the smells and the general hustle and bustle of the city. Documenting her travels and using her camera like a sketch book allows Derk's first-hand experience of the cities she paints and this is vital to her practice.
Layers play an integral role for the artist's overall finalized image and this creates a certain depth and intriguing nature to her works. She portrays her subjects in mixed media in enamels and oils and working this way allows a variation in affects and textures. The quality in which allows the vibrancy and glow of colour to exude from the pictorial space is with the cleverly foundation of colours use such as white, yellows or reds.
show less
