In the third of our weekly profiles, Steven Jones meets painter, Ella Edwards.

Ella Edwards is a painter whose work explores the beauty of nature through a delicate use of line and considered approach to colour.

Ella said: “I find nature the most beautiful and consistent source from which I can develop a language based on pattern, shape, colour and line. My work uses drawing and an exploration of painting with which to express this language.”

Since her formative years, Ella has drawn inspiration from nature, the rural landscapes of her native Shropshire providing a way into art. A degree in fine art exposed her to alternative approaches and perspectives which influence her current practice. Her strong engagement with process and refinement can lead Ella’s work into the realm of abstraction, where her contemplated use of colour might be the only indication of an autumnal landscape.

“I am constantly collecting information which contributes to a process of visual refinement and a search for the essence of what painting means for me personally but also a broader search for simplicity in life”, she said.

This allusion to simplicity belies a gentle undercurrent of eastern philosophies in Ella’s work, of which she said: “There is a process of looking within one’s self while representing something external that is close to mindfulness. At its best, painting can become a meditative experience.”

As well as an introspective and spiritual approach to expression, Ella also considers the viewer’s perspective. She sees The Upmarket Galleries as an opportunity to open the processes of art to public scrutiny, to “address the disconnect that has evolved between an artist’s desire for expression and the ‘white cube gallery’ experience, where the public’s perception of art is as an alienating pursuit."

Ella said: If I can communicate only one idea to just one person, then that in itself would be very fulfilling and rewarding.”

You can visit Ella and see her work in the Upmarket Gallery, upstairs in Newport's indoor market.