About Us
Deep Impressions Underwater Art
Hi,
Kim here! I’m a scuba diver and artist, in case you can’t tell 😉
I grew up with a BSAC First class diver & instructor Father and a Mother who loves snorkelling. So naturally my entire life has revolved around the sea. To cap it all, my partner Mike (a marine biologist) and I live and dive from our boat in Plymouth.
I started diving when I was 14 when my Dad guided me down the steps in Portelet Harbour (in Guernsey) and I took my first breath underwater. I was hooked! Later, I packed myself off to Australia and I can’t describe the euphoria I felt diving the Great Barrier Reef. It’s too beautiful not to capture in some way, so I started taking underwater photographs. And then after that, because my Mum and I are painters, we started turning those pictures into multi-layered paintings, just to do the beauty justice and add more dimension than a simple photograph can capture.
Creating our art:
Around that time, I was at Plymouth Art College training to be a sign-writer where I mastered some invaluable skills. I could now spend weeks meticulously painting in all the detail needed to make the pictures accurate for their location. Mum, having painted forever, took to it like a duck to water! Lately, our work is far more abstract and the whole process is very organic and gives us more freedom. We both love creating textures and exploring new techniques. I’m always delighted when I find the marine creatures who are hidden in the layers of paint.
To take a look at our art
Our work on show
Last year we opened our studio in Plymouth, as my boat was bursting at the seams with canvases and paint! When we’re out of the studio, exhibiting at shows, we love meeting everyone. Mum will paint live on the stand, while she daydreams about swimming off tropical beaches with her mates (the ‘Silvertips’). If children stop to watch, she’ll hand them a brush for them to have a go themselves.
Why we paint for you
We can’t think of anything better than being in the sea – it’s good for the soul! We believe that it’s so good for our minds and bodies to be in or around the ocean and the latest scientific research is finding this to be true. If we can capture a moment underwater and our customers feel they’re there too, then we’re happy.
We often get customers saying things like ‘Oh, that’s exactly like when I dived the Galapagos’ or ‘It reminds me of my honeymoon in the Maldives’. We even have our youngest fan who is 10 years old, who asked his Mum for a Birthday present of the ‘Mewstone ledges’ as he loves sharks so much and he knows all the fish! Our abstract art has a more contemporary feel and we often hear ‘I just love the colours!’ and ‘I could look at this all day’, a window to the sea. 🙂
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