Rachel Tighe's love of cities explored in colourful graphical strokes and negative space

Self-employed as an artist for the last four years, Rachel loves to explore mark making and instinctive lines that map out and form our conscious surroundings. The graphic nature of her strokes challenges her use of colour to create depth and balance.

She has a particular love of painting urban landscapes: "I love cities to draw inspiration from, as there are so many compositions and shapes from architecture that seem complex, but when sketching become so effortless and free-flowing. I look for certain outlines and characteristics when creating a painting, whether it's in cities or more recently, abstract florals. I look for a certain balance of negative space – this can be in between buildings, people, structures, petals and foliage, it all has to flow together to complete a configuration."

Since graduating from university in 2008, Rachel has explored her ideas alone in her studio, which she says has steered her to develop naturally and hone in on her style. She is currently represented by a handful of reputable galleries nationwide who have exhibited her work in solo shows and have also taken her work to well recognised art fairs, both in the UK and places such as New York and Monaco. Discover more at www.racheltighe.com.