H.Prachek

A place where I upload and talk about my art practice.  Instagram @hazelprachekart

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March 2024

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February 2024

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January 2024

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The blue car photo collage. all pictures taken in Sheffield by myself.

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From the first moment that I walked in and looked at this space I had a pretty clear vision of how I imagined feeling when my future self would be making art here. The motivation to transform the space came from the hope that the effort put would be equal to the joy I would get out of being here and creating art. I can confidently say, that seeing the space, when the sun shines through those big windows is very rewarding and the effort put in has payed off.

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Having the skill and ability to frame my own paintings feels so great. Turning a loved painting into a treasured object and seeing this transformation is special. I am a part of the whole process, from mind, to materialisation onto paper, and then finally into what feels like a specimen I can hang on a wall to admire everyday, as a product and reminder of the capabilities of my imagination 🌸🌿😍

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Before this current burst of inspiration I had spent some years not really making much art or what I was making, when I did try was really not very satisfying. I would spend a long time and a lot of effort creating something that didn’t equate to the effort I had put in. I decided to take myself on a different path and started working in care, away from the art gallery I was at. I was able to explore my interest in human behaviour while supporting adults with autism. compared to the gallery, where I would often work alone or with a very small team, the residential home really tested my social anxiety and abilities to adapt in this environment. As well as learning about supporting people who heavily relay on care staff for their everyday needs, I started to over come and learn to manage my own special needs. In doing this I was able to take the ‘anxiety blinkers’ off that I had unknowingly been wearing. Now I knew I had been wearing these blinkers I was able to recognise when they slipped back on and how differently this made me see (or not see) my surrounding. I am now in my 3rd year studying Psychology, working in a creative environment again and the flow of creativity has returned.

A life long journey of discovering or re-discovering the things that light up your soul. Something that helps me enter this state of mind is thinking of my own ego states, specifically the ‘free child’ that lives within.

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These are two imaginary rock shapes. The top one I am head over heels in love with. The colours that I choose to use are so garish and clashing that they make me feel a bit gross and uncomfortable and for some reason it’s that feeling that i have been trying to create when choosing colours, the fine line that can tip between what i feel is too complementary and boring to look at and the absolutely gross and uncomfortable to look at. The second one I like but am not in love with. I did try and recreate what I achieved with the first but it didn't quite satisfy my standards as much. Although it is still a good rock and one that inspires more to come.       

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I keep drawing and painting pictures of rocks and at some point I thought the satisfaction of it would go away, or the joy I get from seeing the shapes appear would become boring and I’d want to find something else to obsess over, but it hasn’t. It feels like a gift to have found this thing that I feel so connected to. When I talk about it I do feel a bit mad but It feels so right I can’t help but light up when I get asked to describe why I do it. The rock as an object was something I would look at and understand the geology of but just walk past and not really see it. Now I see this timeless specimen that to us will never really change but the life cycle of a rock fascinates me, how it passes through the planet. Another way that I see the rocks that I draw is that they are a part of me or a representation of how I have come to accept myself for who I am and not try to be like anyone else. Every rock I draw is different and there are little bits that are not quite right but it is those imperfections that make me enjoy them so much more, the same way that each of us is so incredibly different and complex. <3<3<3

The images above are old but very important early pieces in the development of this journey. The top stripy one is a drawing of a rock that I found and brought home and later decided that it looked like and was the same size as a human heart. The one below is a picture of a rock that I found in a river in whales while with a friend and will always remind me of that content happy time.      

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YES! I LOVE ROCKS!

As intelligent beings that are aware of our effect on the plant we have a responsibility to understand and learn about our natural environments. Environments that existed and developed over un-comprehendible lengths of time, and still continue to, and will long after us. The beauty that I see in rocks comes from thinking of them as living objects that experience the passing of time. I know that most of the rocks that I draw are sedimentary, grit stone or silt stone, meaning that at some point in their existence they were in a river bed and this is a long way, usually from where I pick them up and imagine their slow journey. 

The top photo is a painting of a rock found by myself at the top of the Stocksbridge valley, very close to the Warncliffe crags. The crags are a rock face and were formed 320 million years ago in the Paleozoic era! 

The bottom photo features the Stocksbridge rock (same piece as top pic), wales river rock and the smaller pieces are all rocks from Stocksbridge. 

The colours here continue with the pink theme that is dominating most of my work at the moment and has extended to me dyeing my hair pink too. I am experiencing a pink period of work. what next... 

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This is another piece where I have deliberately thought about the composition to purposely suggest a face. The moment you realise There is a face, the way you feel changes. It is this moment that I find really interesting because then I  try to not see the face anymore. 

The shapes in this one are a sun/moon, a branch and the floating island/moustached mouth is inspired by the shape hedge bushes make when growing over a fence or wall.  

painted: Sept 2020

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Floating dogs and a beautiful horse. 

I never had a dog when growing up. My first dog was a rescue greyhound and I think I was 24, He was the most handsome, graceful creature and it became a learning experience. Living with dogs has taught me that unconditional love is something that comes effortlessly. 

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Three recent very pink paintings. Not sure why they are so pink apart from that I like they way the colour looks and there is something comforting about this palette for me at the moment. Really enjoying pink!

As humans we cannot help but look for faces in everything, even if it is unintentionally there (knots in floorboards). As babies, learning to recognise our parents faces is where this tool begins to work for us. The thought of accidentally putting a smiley face in a painting used to be something that would really annoy me. Once you have seen the accidental face in a picture it becomes the only thing that you see and it can be really hard to look beyond what that face makes you feel (happy, sad, creepy). I wanted to begin challenging this accidental face thing by purposely placing objects and shapes in ways that subtly resemble faces. Not necessarily the shape of a mouth, nose or eyes but the placement, two eyes at the top nose in the middle and mouth toward the bottom. 

Top two paintings plant content is based on the Hawthorn tree and the third pictures plant content is based on the hollyhock. 

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I’ve decided I’m going to start trying to make series' using the same colour pallet. I enjoy mixing colours, you can predict certain things but when mixing house paint and acrylic it can be surprising and helps to bring in and experiment with new colour combinations. 

I find this peachy trio to be particularly juicy. Again, the featuring objects are rocks, plants and a sun/moon shape (circle) :’). Painted June 2020

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A mixture of pieces done over the past 9 months although all but one were painted during lockdown. I find that some pieces fall out effortlessly and it is these that are the most inspiring. It is these pieces that act as seeds, that grow and fuel a stream of work. In this group of paintings (3rd picture) the ‘seeds’ are the top left painting and the painting directly below.    

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