Ruth October is an abstract artist who believes art has the power to heal and is key to well-being. Her expressive works are guided by how she is feeling when creating a piece. Her bold colour palette is key in creating works that spark joy and bring to life the unseen.

An Interview between Round Lemon’s Zest Hall Curator Andreea Pislaru, and Bárbara Ramos, our first artist in residence. The artist investigates the contrast between the real and the imaginary, light and dark, the dreamlike and the non-place. Her creatures are a pure expression of existence without any baggage or influence from the material world.

Born and raised in Birmingham, artist Beer Baby talks about reaffirming her artistic style, running an artist-led collective, and the process behind her piece ‘Glowing’, which features in our Round Lemon X SHOUT Digital Shout Outs exhibition.

Allow me to introduce you to Roda, a Greek artist who is currently studying Fashion Design at Nottingham Trent. His practice investigates issues of inequality, greed and power, in a socio-politic cultural context, and his ambition to push limits is revealed by both the concepts and the diverse choice of mediums. The artist’s response to the RL X SHOUT Exhibition unveils an exquisite visual language that intrigues me.

Irina Tall’s personal mythologies echo queer personal symbolisms: haunting distorted memories form into ghastly narratives. Sirins - half human and half bird creatures - swoop across gloomy skies, and the mark-making of these creatures is dramatic, completely full of energy. Irina talks about her use of monochrome, surprising materials and the iconography of the Sirin.

Lara is a 22-year-old art student that likes to explore identity in relation to herself and others in their practice. Growing up in rural Portugal, her earlier practice was heavily influenced by majolica pottery and ‘azulejos’. This, paired with her love for graphic novels and manga has resulted in narrative-driven drawing practice. They view their practice as ‘escapism from the mundane every day’.

Let me introduce you to Birmingham’s pioneering Collage Maker: Adam Wynn. Multi-disciplinary Artist, Founder of Birmingham Collage Collective and co-founder of Collage Zine Triple One Five, Adam is taking the Birmingham Art scene by storm. His satirically political yet critical works scrutinise British politics and culture, allowing us to access heavy topics through an authentic and subconscious form of cut and paste, all whilst having a good chuckle.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Artist Diogo Duarte, exploring the portrayal of mystery in the artistic setting of cruising grounds. His work has a supernatural feel, and I’m fascinated by his presentation of such via the medium of tarot cards. Intrigued, I was eager to find out more about Diogo and his involvement in the Round Lemon’s ‘SHOUT’ Exhibition.

Over the course of 9 days in the November of 2021 – a conversation between Round Lemon writer Liv Collins, and artist Harry Grundy takes place. Over email, we chat about his piece Pearls Before Swine, ideas for wobbly outdoor sculptures – and the contentious relationship between art and money. This is an artist who is unafraid to say it how it is – phlegm and all.

Artist Toby Hawkins talks to Bethan Jayne about his experimental photography journey, passion for words and shares some useful advice for artists who are battling the creative employment industry. Toby’s work ‘A Scattering of Objects’ is currently being shown in Round Lemon’s SQUASH exhibition at Parkside Gallery.

Born in Brum and raised in the Black Country, Grace is an artist who takes pride in her roots and uses her life experiences to inform her manipulation of British tat.

Rambling noisy bodies and charged embraces occupy Batham’s ‘Three Lions’ in sweeping shades of greens and blues, as I can hear the celebratory chanting of an ecstatic football crowd. With an academic background in Human sciences and an enthusiasm for paint, it’s not surprising that Ruth turned to art to capture the essence of both the human form and its relationships through various types of portraiture. Having had work featured in Round Lemon’s Kitchen Gallery Exhibition in October, I was intrigued to find out more about Ruth’s influences and decision making when it comes to collecting people on canvas.

Leeds based Artist Sarah talks to us about verbs as inspiration, the importance of spatial architecture and most importantly, trusting your gut. Sarah showcased some of her work as part of Round Lemon’s ‘Default’ exhibition.