Giles replied: “I am so delighted you like my work Erin and find it inspiring. Like you I loved painting and drawing at school. It is so much fun to get lost in creating something that is your very own. It is a great idea to visit the fish market and take photos. That’s exactly how I started. I would encourage you to spend some time really looking at your subject and thinking about what strikes you as interesting when you take a photo of it. I am inspired by the fascinating colours and patterns you find when you look closely at nature, so make sure any photos you take really capture those things. The best advice I can give for the piece you are doing is, have fun! I play with lots of different types of paints and materials. I like to make a mess. It won’t always go right, but that doesn’t matter, have another go. One of my favourites to paint is the crab. To help create the idea of texture I add sawdust, thread, plaster and even real broken crab shell.”
