Ahead of Tom Voyce's exhibition in collaboration with the local artist Grace Ellen, A Sense of Place. We caught up with Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year to find out more about his inspiration and creative approach.

Which are the places that inspire you most?

I have often found myself inspired by many different elements within both landscapes, and interiors. Light, composition and contrast are fundamental to what I look for, and these can be found in many places from locations in the home, to those outside within the landscape in the UK or abroad.

I have always had a desire to travel, so to be able to combine this with my love of depicting place in my work has always been my ambition. Because good light is so important to me, it is not always easy to find this in the UK! I find the light in different countries around the world very inspiring- California for example, where several of my favorite artists are from, has the most wonderful light that creates exciting compositions that I end up filling sketchbooks with. I feel like I am walking through my favorite artists paintings!

Can you pinpoint your emotional reaction to these places – why you love them?

I have always found cast shadows interesting in images and in life! How they can create certain moods within a composition. I find myself staring at a shape made on the side of a wall on a summer evening, being intrigued at how the brickwork lights up or how the colours within the shadows intersect across a road. Edward Hopper was an early influence on me, and I found that something about them connected with how I viewed the world.

American landscape painting in general has had a big influence on my development, so visiting places in the US and attempting to portray them in my own way feels like something that I need to do, like an outlet of part of me. That being said, location is not always the most important factor. I think beauty in a landscape or interior can be found anywhere- often in the most mundane of places that people often miss. I am interested in finding these.

How much difference does the time of year and the weather make?

With light, this changes throughout different seasons. Clear, sunlit days are preferable for me as the provide casted shadows and warm light. The Summer or Autumn is best for this, but I have also produced artworks in the winter with little or no light that I still feel captures a sense of place. Timing is more important- as the long casted shadows appear in the morning or evening. Midday in the summer means less shadow, and as a result less contrast. Weather can affect this for the same reason- but if I am inspired by something, I will still aim to make a sketch and work things out in the studio later.

Do you start work immediately after you get to a place, or do you just absorb the atmosphere first?

I think it always a good idea to try and absorb the atmosphere in a place, but this is not always possible if you are on a time limit. Because I work from sketches made on location, I keep a small travel sketchbook with me thank I can quickly work in when I see a composition of interest.

If these are fleeing moments viewed from a car or train for example, I will aim to take a photograph first if I am unable to sketch. This is not always ideal as the composition is fixed, but I still captures something that I can work on, or it can help support ideas later when refining compositions further or when painting in the studio. In some cases, I will combine several images of a place into one composition- so I am not always faithful to an exact representation of a building or view as I am more interested in it being a sense of place as opposed to an exact copy of it. What would be the point- you might as well just use the photograph as the artwork. It will be a painting first, and a representation of place second- with artistic license going into each place along the way!

Is there anywhere you’ve been that you would not want to go back to?

Not really. Although I taught in China for a couple of months once, and painting outdoors there was quite difficult because of the pollution. The light was also very diffused because of the haze which made for gloomy compositions when I attempted to draw and paint outside. I think I would jump at any opportunity to paint a new or already visited place because there is always something new to see and to explore.

Have you been inspired by any particular landscape artists?

I have been influenced by many artists. Previously, I was infatuated with the work of Edward Hopper, and how his compositions explored light and shadow so cleverly to create powerful, cinematic scenes that radiated mood and unease. I found them beautiful, but I can see how some find them almost haunting and remote.

Other American artists such as Wayne Thiebaud and Ben Aronson have also influenced my practice as have my previous tutor at art school, June Forster. Richard Diebenkorn, however, was the one who I feel took my work to new levels. His ‘Cityscape’ series amongst many artworks of his, have proven to be enormously significant in my practice and continues to be now.

Recently I have started to explore the work of Raimonds Staprans- and I am always looking for other artists whose work I find inspiring and interesting. Very often this comes from those on Instagram, or even artists who attend my workshop such as New Zealand artist Michelle McIver.

Where would you most like to visit that you haven’t yet been to?

I would certainly like to see more of California and the American southwest. As mentioned, the light here is great, and the scenery lends itself well to the type of landscape painting that interests me. The fact that I could paint outdoors more often too is very appealing!

Would you consider including human figures in your work? What’s the reason for your answer?

I often get asked this question. I feel that figures in my landscapes or interiors would not add anything to my compositions, in fact I think they would take away from them. I am not sure why this is. Adding figures to my studies will change them in some way, perhaps adding a narrative that does not exist. Either way, it is not something that I am planning to do at this time, but who knows in the future!