Still basking in the afterglow of the release of her latest album, Let England Shake, PJ Harvey has revealed she is to go back to her roots as an artist and plans to unleash some of her paintings to the world, as well as some of her poetry and prose.
Harvey spoke of her wider creative ambitions in an interview with Spinner, recalling the fact that she once had to make a choice between following music and pursuing a career as a sculptor.
She said, “My initial beginnings were as a visual artist, not a musician… I was going to do a degree in sculpture at a place to go on to study sculpture, but then the path towards music opened up for me. I had an opportunity to make a record and it took me away from ever doing that.”
Not that she has neglected her painting or sculpture, mind you, maintaining it as a sideline while she became one of the most unique voices on the rock landscape.
“I work on paintings alongside with songs,” she says, “I take my work with me. As I write every day, I draw and paint every day and it’s just part of my life, so even if I am touring it comes with me. In fact, songwriting is, for me, a very visual process as well.
“I’d like to do more because I just moved into doing oil painting as well, which I’m really enjoying and I’d like to spend more time doing that. I’m also a keen writer, not just of songs, but of poetry, short prose, short stories. I’d like to release regularly my extraneous works, drawings and writings that aren’t songs, but just other things that I do.”
