Paintings
Above left: Stippled
Rocks 2
Above right: Seashore
Rocks, acrylic, canvas
Below: Saw BladeOpposite page:
Top: Elephant Sunset,
acrylic on canvas
Bottom: Ned Kelly. col-
oured pencil on mount
boardartist; I looked normal. At the moment, I am in the
process of painting my kitchen cupboard doors with
old advertising signs. This is a long-term project.
I painted my laundry cupboard door with an old
Rinso advert and also painted a grandfather clock
complete with mouse and actual clock movement on
my old pantry door.
Artists I admire are Monet, Vermeer (I love ‘Girl
with a Pearl Earring’), Seurat, the old masters
and most realistic paintings. Abstracts do nothing
for me. I was lucky enough to see the Monet
exhibition at the NGV a couple of years ago.
Fantastic! Here in Tassie we are fairly limited on
shows like that, although we do have plenty of
local art shows and the Glover Prize. While on
holidays last year, we went through Broken Hill
and I saw the Pro Hart and Jack Absalom galleries,
which were great.
Recently I discovered stippling. As no classes
were available to me, I learnt of the internet
and have become addicted. I use size 0.1 and
size 005 pens, which are readily available from
newsagents. I started out with larger sizes but
found that the smaller ones look better. Through
trial and error, I have discovered that smooth
paper works best. I tried stippling onto canvas, but
it was too rough.
I have sold a stippled picture of rocks and shells.
It was destined for ArtEx, but when I went to buy the
frame, the woman in the shop bought the picture,
so I quickly had to make another for the show. With
stippling I need plenty of patience, time and frequent
breaks or I get cramp in my hand, not to mention
that it sends me dotty!! But at least with stippling
you can just put the pen down whenever you want
and come back to it later, unlike acrylics where you
have to clean everything up. However, stippling is
unforgiving. Once the mark is on the paper it stays
there, there is no erasing it.
Recently I went to the beach and took many
photos of rocks and shells, and have mainly
stippled them. I am also trying houses and have
raided my husband’s toolbox for inspiration as
well. There are some amazing stipple artists on
the internet; it is easy to while away an hour or
two looking.