Tuesday Riddell’s work takes us down to the forest floor and a glorious insight into the world that captures her imagination, that ethereal nocturne where all cycles of life and death carry on with rarely a watchful eye. However, it is her craftsmanship, that under admired phrase of accolade, which provides us with a second and lasting pleasure. There is a richness to her work: the depth of the black sharpens the contrast and the glow of the gold leaf and makes each piece look like a polished gemstone.
Tuesday Riddell graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Painting from City & Guilds of London Art School. Following that she undertook her Painter-Stainers Decorative Surface Fellowship at City & Guilds – the only Fellowship in the UK that provides specialist training in the craft of decorative surface techniques to ensure that endangered skills are kept alive and vibrant in contemporary practice, focusing on historic techniques such as gilding, japanning, chinoiserie and marbling. Riddell was then granted a one-year honorary membership to The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers to conclude her fellowship. She is the only contemporary artist in the UK working in lacquerware. Japanning is a 17th-century type of finish that originated as a European imitation of Asian lacquer work. Tuesday was part of the ‘Young Contemporary Artist Awards 2018’ by The Biscuit Factory and won ‘Best Picture Award’ decided by the Worshipful company of the Painter Stainers, Art in the City 2020.