Artist & Illustrator October 2009 Capital Love Letters Words: Carol Cordrey

30/09/09

Gillian Burrows has an indefatigable love of the urban landscapes of London, a love that is clearly expressed in her vibrant paintings.

“I love putting bright colours together because they give different effects”

Gillian Burrows passion for London springs from her move to the East End, 25 years ago when, as a graphic designer she look the bold step to start a fresh chapter in her life. It involved finding a new home and detaching herself from the world of advertising and designing to establish her own freelance studio.

I had already been painting the area and wanted to be where it was." says Burrows. "I have always liked urban landscapes. I was brought up in Hertfordshire in the countryside. My parents used to take me into London when I was small because my father was a famous band leader and we used to go to those lovely hotels. I think it was then that my love affair with London began.”

The move was more exciting than she could have imagined. From that point onwards her paintings became inspired by the people she saw daily weaving their way across the Thames and around the streets to places of work, worship or entertainment. Architecture had always captivated her but in Docklands, Burrows found herself surrounded by both historic and contemporary buildings –the latter emerging day by day through the activities of enormous cranes that seemed permanently etched upon the London skyline.

Inspiration soared within her and suddenly it began to flow in a torrent of enthusiasm from Burrows' head and heart, through her hands and on to paper and canvas. Over time, it manifested itself in a dramatic range of media, scale and style of work that included graphic, pen and watercolour portraits of historic buildings to stylised or abstracted, vibrantly coloured sights and symbols.

Burrows sometimes chooses to distil London's rich mix of people, iconic buildings and historic associations into simpler shapes. Her range of work has evolved to richly coloured, large-scale paintings that combine realism and abstraction, demonstrated by her series London Lines. This group of London landmarks, heavily outlined in gold, and placed above interpretations of streets and squares seemingly paved with gold makes a strong statement about the city's wealth.

At the other end of her stylistic spectrum, she has produced large, powerful acrylic paintings saturated in rich colours but devoid of detail, such as an interpretation of the historic nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. This cleverly employs the two colours in the title as a prominent backdrop to outlines and titles of the City's renowned churches in the rhyme.
One of her new works is a painting of London's Olympic Park in its evolving state. Adjoining, overlapping and textured panels of colour are used to define areas and buildings at or identifiable, with
the venue, including the Thames Barrier and the 02 Arena.

Her bright colours have become a trademark. "In the old days I used a very limited palette. My paintings did start off grey and dark," she says. "My palette now is very bright. 1 love putting bright colours together because they give different effects."

Last year Burrows received a commission from the Mile End Hospital Education, Training and East London Development Centre that became her biggest and most challenging work to date - a huge triptych and other large paintings to complement the interior of the new building. The triptych features a stunning double helix in rich colours twisting from ground to ceiling, whilst the other pictures reflect the themes of medicine, education and multiculturalism of the people and places that make up Tower Hamlets.

"I think I would be confident to go to any city and be able to produce work because I always get inspiredthe first time I see something. Usually the first idea is the right one and you arc suddenly struck by this amazing image in front of you."

Remarkably, Burrows has found time aside from her busy painting schedule to join forces over the past 25 years with the film-maker Alan Tucker. Together they have documented the changing environment of East London and the result is the film A Picture of East London. Extracts from it will be presented at the Barbican Library to coincide with Gillian's forthcoming exhibition.