Process IF NATURE WAS WATCHING WOULD YOU BE KINDER?

 IMAGINE IF NATURE COULD WATCH WHAT YOU WERE DOING.

  

 Sculptural wall art. Ply backing board

Paper clay, acrylic paint, gold leaf, resin. Step by step.   60cm diameter

 

 

2024 Exhibition Paint Like a Master

March 2024   Kilcoy art Gallery        kilcoyart.org.au

In 2023 Cameron and I joined the Kilcoy Art Society as a way to meet people in the wider community. Since then I have exhibited in two exhibitions. 4 small oil paintings in the first, and a low relief wall sculpture using  paper clay, acrylic, gold leaf and resin in the Paint Like A Master exhibition.  

 

 

 

As always, I started working toward this exhibition by doing some research.

The word MASTER - by definition - it is a person who shows great skill or proficiency. An expert, a virtuoso or wizard. 

Today Vincent Van Gogh is considered a master. His paintings are worth millions 

Yet Vincent Van Gogh - who to us - is considered a MASTER, was, in his time thought of as a NOVICE. He did not attend art school, so his contemporaries thought his work lacked technical skill.They described it as sloppy, lacking in precision and finesse. Thought his Colors were overly intense and unrealistic.

Yet - Van Gogh - described himself as a musician of color Said he tried to use color as a symbolic language of his emotions. To express the terrible and incredible passions of humanity and today we understand that the intensity of Van Gogh’s palette symbolizes the way he struggled with his inner turmoil. 

 

To me STARRY NIGHT which he painted while in an asylum represents all this angst and beauty. It is his psychological response to the world. 

 

Through bold, emotive use of color and expressive choppy brush strokes his work displays directness, freshness, vitality and passion. And we consider it a masterpiece. 

 

Then I looked up the word LIKE. Paint like a Master. LIKE - means having the same 

characteristics or qualities.

To me these qualities were - the way he displayed his inner turmoil,with colour, intensity, vitality and passion. 

 

It wasn’t primarily about producing something to be sold. Vincent In his 10 year career as an artist - having produced some 800 works - Sold 1

 

In my response to produce something LIKE Starry Night - I chose a circle to portray the timelessness of his mental condition. To show the disquiet and choppiness of his life - I have portrayed his trouble thoughts - looking out from his asylum. 

To represent his passion and vitality I used impasto and color. Thick layers of Paper clay with Bright Acrylics & Gold Leaf . To symbolize the restraints placed on him by his contemporaries and society - I have Imprisoned the work behind a layer of hard resin. 

PROCESS Paper clay - is it dries hard without the use of a kiln. Build up layers - using a slurry of paper clay, water and PVA glue. Joined at the back with Chux, and slurry. To repeat shapes I produced molds using PINKY SIL or Plaster. I sealed the finished work with gesso, painted it with acrylics and sealed it with resin.

 

 

Somerset Regional Art Gallery

 CROSSDALE5

 Exhibition opening 

 Saturday July 24,  2021

 Five artists from Crossdale - Sharon, Shirley, Jane, Ian, Jan

Sharon Lee

With fear of climate change and the arrival of Covid-19, 2020-21 encouraged me to coddiwomple - to travel purposefully forward to an as-yet-unknown destination. En route discovering how necessary it is that we maintain hope. 

With hope in mind, I have created bright, multi-layered narratives. Each a visual haiku of the memories I yearn to keep and dearly hope persist. 

In the works on canvas I have started with a black background, and over this I have layered acrylic glazes to establish the painting, before finishing with rich lushness and viscosity of oils; the brightness signifying new beginnings and growth. The inclusion of birds represents: wisdom, adaptation, diligence, rebirth, courage and all the many attributes we will need to use to repair and maintain our ecosystem.

At the commencement of my coddiwompling story and at the end, I have placed sculptures with a serious question in mind, If nature was watching would you be kinder? A third sculpture designed as a nest, while asking the same question, does hint at the chance of new beginnings. Each piece combines the use of found objects, paper clay, acrylic and resin.

The works display my continuing appreciation for nature and her ability to re-calibrate and rejuvenate, without ignoring the undesirable aspects of: a world without; a world with too much; and a world which cannot sustain.

 

Sharon Lee

ARTIST

Growing up in Papua New Guinea, living on an isolated Island in Bougainville, and then moving to acreage in Crossdale, Queensland, I have always felt fortunate to be able to observe and interpret the kaleidoscope of colors and designs in nature. While owning an art supply shop within the Brisbane Institute of Art for more than a decade and managing an Artist retreat allowed me to observe and learn many creative, technique based processes.

In my work I combine my appreciation for a good story with the excitement I get from rearranging nature’s complex - and often ephemeral assemblages. Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) said, ‘an artist must have one eye on the outer world, while the other eye looks towards the inner world.’ It is with this in mind that I create multi-layered paintings evocative of the landscape, while inserting an irrational or troublesome idea into the imagery. However, unlike the melancholy of Ernst, I hope my works are a joyful experience, encouraging the viewer to connect with their own memories and conscience. Hopefully creating their own unique narrative.