Carmen Tyrrell

In conversation with Humph Hack - Curator

I am delighted that Carmen has agreed to accept an invitation to be the Featured Arist for the next three weeks. As Fine Art degree students in the early 1960s, we were introduced to the delights and horrors of the life studio.

My admiration of her work is based on her ability to create sensuous forms with such apparent ease, only because I know how much skill and perseverance is actually involved.

I asked Carmen when she started making art.

“Before we go any further Humph, thank you for inviting me to be a Featured Artist”

She explained that, “Since an early age I showed interest in painting and drawing and I was encouraged to study Art”.

As a teenager, Carmen took private lessons in artist’s studios. “That is where I began training -- hard work in the academic way”. She drew from casts, still lives, from models - figure painting as well as analysing the works of famous artists.

“I continued to develop my art study through Art School and the Academy of Art”.

Carmen has continued to be involved in artist organisations entering different competitions and been awarded some prestigious prizes.

She moved to the U.K. in October 1994 through marriage.

“I live in Lancashire, in a small town not far from Manchester”.

There she found few local galleries selling original art. However, in the year 1999 and 2000 she took part in the annual open exhibitions at Haworth Art Gallery in the nearby town Accrington.

“In 2002, I was one of three artists in Blackburn Textile Museum and in 2004 and 2005, I was invited to hold solo exhibitions in a gallery in Rochdale”.

In the 2011 Summer Open exhibition in Colne, she was rewarded with the third prize for a portrait, and has continued to take part in Liverpool annual art fairs.

I asked her how long she had been showing her work on ArtGallery.co.uk.

“Around the year 2000, the number of online art galleries started to grow. In 2009 I enrolled with Art Gallery. It was one of the first U.K. online galleries. and the one where I SOLD the most, 187 so far.”

I asked Carmen why so much of her work was about the human form.

“I’m interested in people and I like their company. I am fascinated about the Human Body as structure, beauty, complexity and sophistication -- and through the movement”.

She finds inspiration from everyday life, society, interaction with people.

“I observe the physical and emotional space around individuals and create my own interpretation”.

When I told her that I admired the fluid nature of her art, she explained that, “During my academic study, in Life Drawing sessions, we were asked to complete 10 minute quick sketches - drawing from direct observation”. These exercises in eye-hand coordination led to more developed pieces of work.

“Working from direct observation is the most rewarding feeling, making my works loose and spontaneous”.

Working with acrylics is her favourite medium. “It’s a versatile medium that allows flexibility; to create detailed work, layering, and textured impasto techniques on different surfaces. Acrylics dry faster than the oils I used to work with as a student”.

Carmen uses charcoal for her more powerful and expressive style of work, working happily on both canvas and paper.

I was interested to find out if more men or women bought her art.

“Both --- but if there is a difference, women seem to be more interested in the 'Lovers' category and men in 'Nude Figures'."

As regards, favourite artists, she mentioned: “Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Picasso, Egon Schiele, Paula Rego, Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville and many others”.

Asked about the future, she said she hoped to keep painting and drawing the Human Body and see how her style develops.

“Over the years it’s moved from Impressionistic to Expressionistic and Minimalist”.

Carmen’s art creates and reflects a calming atmosphere, carrying the message of beauty, harmony and happiness. Her works can be found in private collections worldwide, but mainly in the U.K., Europe, Dubai, USA and Canada.

Many collectors own more than one of her artworks.
One of her works would make an ideal Valentine’s gift.
Carmen continues to add new work regularly.

January 2025