SHAC Gallery Artist Interview
Upon entering the Gallery visitors are enchanted by the immersive and vibrant colour pallet of your works. When did you first discover your love of colour and why is it so important to your artist practice?
I’ve always loved colour. I think I inherited my love of colour and design from my mother whose taste in furnishings was very stylish. I was allowed to choose wallpaper for my room when I was a teenager and yes, it was very colourful! I also had a bright yellow desk in my bedroom!
When I think of colour I think of life. I am drawn to warm, bright colours in my paintings but deliberately try to expand my palette to experiment with the whole colour spectrum.
Since 2020 you have focused on painting semi abstract artworks influenced by being ‘on location.’ How has your approach to painting changed over the years?
My art practice ‘lay dormant’ for many years, career, family and life in general took precedence. About ten years ago I enrolled in a ‘travel sketching’ workshop and that helped me get started. Even now, I never leave home without a sketchbook. From drawing buildings and my more immediate surroundings, especially when I travelled, I moved on to landscapes, spurred on by artist mentors and courses I undertook, especially week long courses at the National Art School. Over the past five years my landscapes have become more abstract and I have incorporated pattern into my work. All my paintings ‘grow’ out of drawings and plein air works completed on location.
Are there any artists or movements that have particularly influenced you?
I can’t look at a Matisse paining without swooning, obviously! More recently I have been influenced by Abstract Expressionism and in particular artists such as American Richard Diebenkorn. I enjoy exploring the work of abstract artists as my work has headed in this direction. Milton Avery ( 1885 – 1965) is my current ‘crush’.
What stories or messages are embedded in your artwork that you want people to discover?
My aim is to help viewers make a connection with the scene I have painted, whether that be a landscape or an interior scene. I am very open about the inspiration for my works and hope that enables people to be transported to the scene I have painted. I am also moved by the beauty of the environment and I put a great deal of thought into the colours that I use to interpret the scene.
What big take away would you like to share with emerging artists that you have learnt from your first solo exhibition?
Wow!
That’s a good question. I would suggest finding a mentor to guide you. I’d also say, don’t rush into a solo. Try to participate in group shows first. I’ve found that regional galleries are also great to work with. The SHAC Gallery has a terrific time line for artists and has been great to work with. There is absolutely no confusion about what has to be done and by when. It helps the artist to be really well organised. I’m very happy to chat with anyone who is considering a solo.
So far in your journey, what location is your favourite to immerse yourself in creatively and why?
That is also a good question but too hard! Let’s say that wherever I am I find it incredibly satisfying to complete the process from drawing and painting en plein air to the completed painting in the studio. If the finished work takes me back to the location then I’m satisfied.