I remember being given a colouring book and brush at my grandmother’s house in Scotland. As I touched the water to the page a colour emerged. I was delighted. I still feel delight at the unexpected things that paint will do in my work.
What are you working on right now?
Currently I am working on some paintings that I have been thinking about creating for a while now. A gallery steering committee meeting is coming up so I am working on a portfolio of Celtic Monasticism infused tartan-like work with swirls, stripes, crosses and hearts. I prefer to work in high key colour like the Fauvists and Henri Matisse. My style is also influenced by the Abstract Expressionism movement that was in full swing in the decade I was born.
What do you like the most about working in print media? And what are some of the challenges of working in printmaking?
The visual excitement of the many techniques of printmaking keep me coming back for more. Scale also intrigues as in my tiny etching: ”Mother and Child” contrasted with the large collagraphs of “It’s a Wild World”. I do not usually paint in black and white but find myself creating sugarlifts in black on white paper. The challenges of printmaking that keep me from regular practice these days is the need for costly specialized equipment and a sensitivity to the oil-based inks I prefer to use.
Simply said, I am moved by my emotions and imagination. Yet inspiration comes to me in many ways: through dreaming something, an idea that I have had for a while, a life experience, a scene that comes across my view as I go about my daily travels or a sightline glimpsed in a movie. Recently I was inspired to create a personal version of another artist’s image seen in the newspaper.
Do you think about the relationship between artist and viewer when creating?
Thoughts about the viewer do not enter my mind until the work is almost complete or until it is being exhibited. What is foremost in the work is for ideas and techniques to come together enough to flow onto paper/canvas the image that is in me. My hope is always that others will identify with it or be touched or challenged by it.
What are your thoughts on exhibiting art in non-traditional platforms, outside the formal spaces of art museums and galleries?
I think that art and life are inseparable. To go against that leaves a vacuum in people’s lives. My thoughts are similar to the Bauhaus era in Germany when everything was created in an artistic way: buildings, parks, furniture, dishes, fine art and applied art. Our lives are enriched by art on the streets, in our institutions, our homes, and also our places of worship.
Each artist is unique in the ways we create and offer our art to others. We can teach other artists. We can educate the community about art, especially about contemporary art and its inspiration and appreciation. We can show that art is for the enjoyment of everyday life for everyone in the ways that interior design and garden planning are. Art-making needs to be funded to enrich our communities.
How do you participate as an artist in your community?
Often it comes to me that I am filling my world with art. I take as many opportunities as I can to get my work out of the studio to make room for more. I paint at the waterfront, show in coffee shops and galleries, and even gift and donate work regularly.
At Papergirl, we are all about the art of giving art. What is the greatest gift you have ever received?
The greatest gift I have ever received is undoubtedly my children. Next would come the gift of tickets to Paris when I graduated from art school. I still think about the black metal sculpture garden in the sky and Modernist paintings of the Pompidou Centre and the Monet “Water Lily” paintings in the round at the Orangerie Gallery.
Tell us about the piece you have donated to Papergirl Vancouver.
The donation this year included several watercolour paintings as well as collographs. My usual practice is contemporary painting with acrylics. When I travel I create watercolours. When I have access to a printmaking studio I make work there.
To wrap up the interview, if you could be a bike what kind of bike would you be?
I would be a red penny-farthing bike. It would provide a beautiful, contemplative ride around the urban landscape that would require both skill and an adventurist attitude in the cyclist.