ART IS HARD
No artwork brief, no client. Yikes! How do people do that? I needed someone to tell me what to draw! Having illustrated only for clients with specific needs, entering my first framed piece of art into a gallery show (at Artworks, Kenosha) was terrifying! I sketched out the idea and showed it to the galley owner for approval—because I couldn’t possibly move on to final artwork without approval!—I was told, by a slightly amused Chet, ‘Um, yeah…it doesn’t work like that.’
It took me a long time to actually start to get my creative juices flowing without any brief or deadline. Such a strange way to work! These days it’s no longer a problem and I regularly enter pieces into shows, and am hugely honoured to say that every-so-often, they sell! Happy dance.
After that first show, much of my work defintely had a children’s book illustratrative look to it. Since I’d been doing that for years, it made a lot of sense that that influence would occur. However, gradually my work became more abstract and less planned. Someone once described it as a stream of consciousness, and I would agree with that. The marks I made got smaller and smaller, and the illustrations became very layered and seemed to take on a life of their own. I found it very easy—once I let go—to allow the pen, pencil or paint to make it’s own journey across the paper. Paper, or plates! I’m not totally sure why I suddenly decided to draw on plates, but I’ve sold every one I’ve ever made! Time to make more!
The following pieces have been created just for the love of creating. Many have been in gallery shows, others have been sold at art fairs, but all are me getting whats in my head down on whatever substrate takes my fancy at the time.
