Maida Vale artist Eleanor Abou-Sakr on the play of light and shadow in the canals and crescents

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“I started painting about six months ago, when I stopped working and became a full-time mother. Having more headspace, if not necessarily more time, I started looking for a creative outlet and decided to put paintbrush to paper.  My painting focuses on colour and the use of brushstrokes to evoke textures.

I initially focused on everyday objects and pieces of fruit as a base for my experimentation, drawing in elements of Impressionism and the abstract. Inspired by some of my daily views around Paddington and Maida Vale, I have recently started to paint landscapes. This particular view down the canal to La Ville represents not only a beautiful view but also the high point of my morning school run. Breathless, invariably late and pushing a triple-loaded buggy, the view is a welcome distraction each morning.

Also an amateur photographer of the everyday, I use black and white to focus on the play of light, shadow and symmetry, which abounds in the canals, crescents and communities of Maida Vale, a place that she has called home for the last six years.”

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