Stacey Anne Betts

My passion for Art & Design began at a very young age. I attended Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College in Leicester, taking A-levels in both Art & Graphics. With extremely encouraging and inspirational teachers I received high A’ grade results. I then progressed by enrolling at Loughborough University to attend the BTEC Art foundation. From there I was accepted into the University of Brighton graduating in June 2007 with a BA (Hons) in Illustration, gaining a 2:1. Since then I have moved back home to the Midlands and have been working in a Graphic Design position within a media and print company.

I have design work published weekly through my current job and occasional illustrations. In 2007, I submitted several pieces of work for a competition set by a new company, Shirted Ape who aim to promote Fresh and upcoming designers by printing their designs on T-shirts. Being one of the chosen artists, my T-shirt design was sold in their first collection within the London store and over the internet. During the second year of my degree I entered an advertorial illustration competition and was one of four winners chosen from my class when responding to an article regarding unpaid overtime for the southern magazine, Business Edge. My response was published in the June 2006 edition.

Previous exhibitions include: University of Brighton Degree Show, Brighton ’07. ‘Your Place or Mine’, Free Range, Brick Lane Brewery ’07. ‘Rock, paper, scissors’, Brighton ’06. These led to the sale of several paintings. This is my first exhibition since finishing my degree.

My latest self – initiated work has covered political, social and psychological issues, portraying harsher subject matters in order to question peoples’ perceptions. When creating my work I try to convey emotion and develop atmosphere through the use of colour. I also enjoy experimenting with the juxtaposition of hand rendered text and image. I thoroughly enjoy researching to gain an in-depth understanding of a subject matter.

I work with a mixture of medium, acrylics (I rarely use oil paints as they make me sneeze, lots!), oil pastels and oil sticks are my favourite. The work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Picasso & Degas are very inspiring for me.

Email: staceyanneletts@ hotmail.com