First couple of months...

My first couple of months on this residency at The Royal Standard has been a whirlwind to say the least.

I didn't realise quite how difficult and strange it would be to uproot my life and move to a new city not knowing anyone, having to find a house, a job and friends - not to mention how that change can affect making art!

It’s hard to balance work and studio-time but I've managed to settle in finally. When I first arrived in Liverpool I became familiar with my surroundings by drawing, I walked and walked, sketching everything that caught my eye. However, when I got to the studio, I couldn't quite transfer the drawings into paintings or oil pastel works and to be honest, this didn’t feel like the most natural way of working for me; I usually work from found imagery and my imagination, but because I was in a new city I felt a pressure to be inspired by it.

Instead, I started painting from things I am personally interested in – such as found imagery, texts taken from a book I'm currently reading like (The Hobbit most recently hence the 'Nori & Ori 'drawing); an array of artist books I have open in my studio and pages and albums of prints I have collected, a lot of prints taken from different places, exploring my mixed heritage. African textile has been of interest to me recently, I've been watching my sister who is part african making cushion covers using beautiful fabrics.  I realised that everything I paint is a mash up of everything I'm interested in at that time. -Things that make me go "I really like that, I want to paint that!" Usually after painting I find connections with my surroundings without even realising it!

Oriele Steiner's Studio at the Royal Standard October 2017

'My accordion is now a gift' 2017 oil on canvas

'Joshua Tree' 2017 oil pastel on paper

'I'm a soul man dalada' 2017 oil pastel on paper

'Banana trees aren't yellow you idiot' 2017 oil pastel on paper

'Nori & Ori' 2017 Oil pastel on paper

'She's a super freak' 2017 oil pastel on paper