Artist Interviews -

Archive by category "Artist Interviews"

Artist Insights: Meg Buick

Meg Buick is a painter and printmaker based in East Lothian, Scotland. Her work, often depicting hazy landscapes and obscured figures, evokes a sense of ancientness and dreamlike solitude. In this article, Meg discusses how she employs a wide range of mediums, including egg tempera, monotype, oils, and pastels, as well as describing her constant reworking of these materials to evoke the ethereal atmospheres found in her work. Drawing inspiration from art history that spans prehistoric cave paintings, the Renaissance, and modern abstraction, Meg presents us with a sense of symbolic memory, where humans and animals merge quietly into her shrouded landscapes. Artist Insights: Meg Buick Contents 0:00 “People often say the work feels ancient” 0:20 “It feels natural to me to keep covering it, and destroying it someway, and bringing it back” 0:51 Introduction 1:06 “I wanted to really learn a practice and learn how to make physical things” 2:00 “I always had drawing on the back burner” 2:47 “A human figure has such a psychological pull for any viewer” 4:04 “It’s more of a landscape than a portrait essentially” 4:20 “I think I’ve always been quite intuitive about materials” 4:38 “Egg Tempera forces you to …

The post Artist Insights: Meg Buick appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Glenn Hernandez: Reflective Mark Making

Glenn Hernandez won a Jackson’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with his work Aberration. In this interview, he discusses feeling divided between two versions of his life, the importance of spontaneity in his work, and how the political climate in the US impacts his creativity. Above image: The artist in his studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Glenn: I’ve been drawing and painting since I was five years old. My parents always encouraged it. I also love music and singing, in particular I love choral music and opera. I started out as a vocal performance major in college but I couldn’t get beyond my music theory courses so I fell back on studio art as my major. My earliest interests in art were more centered on illustration, especially the work of Golden Age illustrator Arthur Rackham. It wasn’t until I took my first art course in high school that I was exposed to fine art and the work of painters like Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach. Nonetheless, my career as an artist has often been commercial. I’ve been an art director at game and animation studios, I’ve worked as an illustrator …

The post Glenn Hernandez: Reflective Mark Making appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Richard Goold: A New Nostalgia

Richard Goold won the Jackson’s Choice Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with his work My Father and Mr Cheese Planting Standard Roses. In this interview, he discusses drawing with Tesco highlighters, adapting his way of working since becoming a dad, and the significance of hessian. Above image: Richard Goold in his studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Richard: I’ve always painted from a very young age, more so than drawing, even. My mother is a painter, so I grew up going to the National Gallery with her and messing around with paint while she painted. It’s something I’ve always done and wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I went to UCA Farnham to do my fine art degree and had some great tutors and visiting lecturers. This was a great environment and place to push my practice. Going it alone after uni can be daunting, but I’d met some great people who helped in the years following. Josephine: What does a typical working day in the studio look like for you? Do you have any important routines or rituals? Richard: My studio days look very different …

The post Richard Goold: A New Nostalgia appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Sally Muir: A Series From The Subconscious

Sally Muir won the Planographic Award in Jackson’s Art Prize this year with her work Beyond Black 15. In this interview, she discusses her love-hate relationship with pastels, the ephemerality of tissue paper, and how monotype lets her explore new paths. Above image: Sally Muir in her studio Josephine: Could you tell us about your artistic background? Sally: I applied to art school when I was 17 and got rejected. I did various other jobs, mostly in publishing and bookshops, until I met my business partner, Joanna Osborne, and we became knitwear designers. That’s what I did for over 30 years, and then decided to try art school again and was accepted this time. So I did a year of foundation and then five years part-time at Bath School of Art and Design (where, coincidentally, I had originally applied). As I needed to make a living when I left, I started working to commission as a portrait artist, painting children mostly. Occasionally, I was asked to include a dog. Gradually, dogs took over, and I started to specialise in dogs, visiting my local dogs’ home and drawing the dogs there became the basis of a year-long project; drawing, …

The post Sally Muir: A Series From The Subconscious appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Artist Insights: Jo Rance

Contemporary artist Jo Rance discusses the vibrant, playful and pastel-rich palette she uses to depict the English countryside, and how her background in textiles lends texture to her tapestry-like paintings. Jo also provides insights into her processes, like how painting outside observationally connects her to the landscapes she loves, as well as her jig-saw like approach to composition. Artist Insights: Jo Rance Contents 0:00 “Anyone can paint.” 0:11 “The dialogue between land and sky” 0:36 “All I ever intend to do is to provoke joy” 0:57 Introduction 1:19 “I was always the kid who wanted to draw at the table” 1:55 “Who doesn’t want to learn how to weave?” 2:11 “I keep coming back to the word, intuitive” 2:53 “We would spend days in the dye lab, picking out our colour palettes, then hours threading these looms up” 4:06 “I have this immediacy, the more you practice with the paint that you use, the more you can use it in ways that make the paintings look like your paintings” 5:33 “I will go in with accents, pastel pinks, lilacs, I love a bright red” 6:44 “Sometimes I feel like I have rose-tinted glasses on when I am …

The post Artist Insights: Jo Rance appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.

Artist Insights: Richard Ayodeji Ikhide

Richard Ayodeji Ikhide is a London-based artist, who works with large-scale watercolours and drawing. He visited Jackson’s Studio to discuss his practice, and how he seeks the intangible qualities of the human experience through movement and colour in his work. Artist Insights: Richard Ayodeji Ikhide Contents 0:00 “I’m trying to dispel these hierarchies within painting.” 0:10 “The marks I’m making are quite intuitive.” 1:12 Introduction 1:30 “Having lived half of my life back home in Lagos, and then living half of my life in England, you get this amalgamation of different experiences.” 3:14 “My approach to painting with watercolours is unconventional.” 4:04 “There’s a long history of sequences and sequential narrative, which has evolved into forms like film, animation, and video games.” 5:26 “For me, drawing is largely about problem solving.” 6:56 “There’s something amazing about a squirrel brush on hot press paper – the way it moves and glides across the surface is like a chef’s kiss. It’s just incredible.” 8:50 “There is no mysticism behind the way the piece takes shape.” 9:09 “That pure joy of making a line, or painting, or using colour, you get lost in the flow of the process.” 10:40 “You’re …

The post Artist Insights: Richard Ayodeji Ikhide appeared first on Jackson’s Art Blog.