What got you started?
What keeps you in?
I dabbled in a variety of creative pursuits before settling
into oil painting. In my late thirties, I left the corporate life behind, moved
from Vancouver, Canada
to Denver and
married an artist (Wes Hyde). Suddenly I
had access to an in-house studio, a constant source of art supplies and
encouragement. So I began. My first painting ended up in a gallery in Santa Fe. The flood gates
were blown open and I haven't looked back since.
What keeps me in is the absolute joy of making art and
living an art-based life. Curiosity is also a big factor. The need to find out
if something will work keeps me engaged.
What/who inspires
you?
My art is inspired by vast spaces, horizon lines, the
weather, and the mood they evoke: real, imagined or remembered. If I ask how
the weather is in your area, I'm truly interested! One of my recent
works-on-paper projects is called, 100 Days of Rain (click to here to view).
It's a series of 100 small painting/drawings on paper inspired by the endless
spectrum of grays in my former hometown of rainy Vancouver. I'm getting close to finishing
that project and have begun a new one called, Notes from the Next Ice Age
(click here to view).
Who inspires me is a long list, not the least of which is my
husband. Others would include JMW Turner, James McNeill Whistler, Agnes Martin,
Clyfford Stills, Stuart Shils, James Bishop, Wolf Kahn, Richard Tuttle. Music and poetry often spurs me on.
What is art for you?
Good art is something that moves me, makes me feel something
- anything. I've found it in the oddest places too - in rust patterns or
peeling paper on a telephone pole, distant lights on a night horizon.
The most powerful/your
favourite medium: picture, words, sounds? Anything else?
Painting in oils is my first love but works-on-paper have
become just as important. A couple of years ago I began to make monotypes and
that lead into (almost) daily mixed media pieces. I'm addicted to them now.
Size matters too - I am drawn to small intimate works. I often say that the
works-on-paper are simple, humble, imperfect. I like that.
Plans
Currently I'm working on paintings and some works-on-paper
pieces for my solo show in January 2013 at Abend Gallery in Denver. After the show, I intend to
take a few months for pure play and experimentation - make lots of stuff
without expectation and a specific destination. I'll also continue working on a
series of new mixed media abstract paintings called Soiled Doves. Soiled Doves
was the name given to prostitutes in the old west.
Anything else?
Yes. In the words of Joni Mitchell:
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
Simon, thanks for Q & A session - it was fun.
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