“Every child is an artist. The
problem is to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Pablo Picasso
How I Came to Be an Artist / Designer
My journey as an artist started when I was barely old
enough to clutch a crayon. I drew voraciously, and this
passion continued into in my teens at which point My
high school art teacher encouraged me to study fine art
at university. Alas, I didn't feel confident in my
abilities. I chose instead to study history, French and
education, and wound teaching junior and senior high
school. When my students learned of my love of art,
they begged me to offer art lessons, and so over the
course of several years, I created a high school art
program. During my summer breaks, I began studying at
the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design where I
dabbled in a wide array of media. Eventually I left
teaching to pursue a long overdue career in art. Since
then I have freelanced as a designer of greeting cards
and websites. My art cards have sold at the Art Gallery of
Nova Scotia and Sears. I also create art and photography
giftware which I sell online.
My Art Influences
Henri Matisse:
Matisse is my favourite artist and thus is my primary
influence. He was a French Fauvist and Expressionist
artist whose later works I love best. His cut-outs are
both childlike in form and elegant in their simplicity.
I started out as a Realist and have worked hard to find
my particular style. The works of Matisse helped me to
tap into my vastly more creative inner child.
Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh was Dutch painter whose works are classified
as Post-Impressionistic. I love his night skies and
contrasting yellow fields and buildings. I had the great
pleasure of visiting the van Gogh museum while in
Holland and I was absolutely enchanted by his
complementary colour palettes.
Franz Marc
Marc, a German Expressionist, painted playful animals
with bold colours, among other subject matter. While I'm
not the biggest fan of Cubism, I really like Marc's use
of geometric shapes to depict landscapes. His paintings
are so alive!
Maud Lewis
Maud Lewis was the most famous Nova Scotia Folk
artist. Growing up in Nova Scotia, I was surrounded by
folk art, only we didn't appreciate its true value at
the time. I have a great uncle who is a true folk
artist. He painted everything around him: old suits, the
rocks on the lawn...you name it. Maud Lewis did the
same. She had very little in the way of material
possessions, but she brought immense beauty into her
world with paint. What I love most about folk art is
that it isn't intimidating; it's very real, honest, pure
and fun. My personal style varies depending on the
medium and my mood.
My Techniques
Acrylics
I enjoy working with acrylics because of their
versatility. Like oils, they can be applied directly to
the canvas or can be watered down and applied in
semi-translucent strokes, as with watercolours. My
preference for acrylics stems from my desire to build
colour intensity. I like to layer the paint thickly,
building up the pigmentation on the canvas. I use a 1.5"
brush to first apply paint to the primed canvas, then I
switch to a 1" brush for the majority of the painting.
As I'm painting, I am aware of energy flowing
through me. It seems to travel up through the soles of
my feet, up into my legs and back, around my scalp, and
then down my painting arm. If I try to control the
movement of the brush, it feels like I am blocking the
energy. At this point, my painting inevitably suffers.
The key is to keep my arm movements fluid and sweeping;
the energy will then be transferred to the canvas in the
form of flowing brush strokes. When the energy is
uninhibited, the exercise of painting is a joyous
expression of life and beauty. It is freeing,
uninhibited, wild and mystical. I honestly don't feel
like the painting comes from me so much as through me.
Watercolours
I love working with watercolours because of their
sophisticated results. You can't fuss with them, or fix
mistakes. In that sense they're very Zen. I apply the
pigment diluted with water onto special
watercolour paper. This paper is highly textured and
thick, designed to withstand the onslaught of
water without tearing. Rippling however is a common
occurrence. It is therefore prudent to know how much
water to carry on your brush. Some watercolour artists
like to apply shear colour. These paintings are soft and
romantic. I prefer to apply heavy amounts of pigment
which I then let bleed into the wet paper. For me colour
tops form. Depending on my subject matter, I like to inject
elements of nature into the paint. For example, if I'm
sitting on a beach painting the surrounding shoreline, I
will sprinkle sand onto the wet paper. When it
dries, I brush it off. The colour remains, but the areas
where the sand granules adhered to the paper are now
white. It gives the beach in the painting a lovely sandy
texture.
Digital Art
A digital artwork, as I define it, is a work of art
created using technology - a digital camera, scanner and
computer - in lieu of traditional materials such as
brushes, paints and canvas. I start by taking a digital
photograph of my subject matter. This picture acts as a
base for the painting. I use the pixels of colour within
the photograph as paint. Playing with each photo, I
alter the focus, colour and form. Some elements are
added for visual impact, while others are smudged out.
Each picture dictates the painting style. Some
compositions, for example, remind me of an Impressionist
painting, so I use quick strokes of colour or maybe tiny
pixels of colour, to render the image. The technique is
essentially the same as conventional painting but with a
few distinct differences. One, there is the obvious
difference in materials. Secondly digital art is far more forgiving.
Conventional painting has no 'undo' function. I wish
everything in life had an undo function!
As a digital
artist, I often find myself defending the medium. While
some may question the artistic value of a digital art,
preferring a more conventional approach to art, I look
instead to the example set by my favourite artist Henri
Matisse. Matisse was labelled a Fauvist - a term of
derision meaning "wild beast" - for his orgiastic use of
colour. Yet despite public outrage he, like scores of
artists before him, continued to push the boundaries of
art and to challenge the status quo. Such is the nature
of art; it is always evolving to reflect, defy and even
change societal beliefs. Although materials and styles
vary, artists continue to share such constants as a
flair for aesthetics, a good eye for composition and an
ability to communicate via form and colour. The marriage
of technology and art does not lessen the merit of its
offspring; indeed, a digital art is a work of art.
