Artists of Australia
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Narelle Bretherton finds inspiration in the everyday. Her small and intimate realist paintings, painted on plywood, document place and time. These lovely paintings capture the small, often unnoticed moments and places that colour our lives. Her recent work captures the essence of her coastal town of Lennox Head and the nostalgic feel of a simpler time...documenting the last of the beach shacks, buildings, landscapes and caravans around her home. Narelle Bretherton finds inspiration in the everyday. She also paints lovely little watercolour pieces capturing the beauty and simplicity of everyday items. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Yes definitely - I think having a green space is very important for me – always being connected to the garden or beach makes me feel good and helps me to create. I paint a lot of small watercolours which I find relaxing – separate to my main art – and it is about appreciating small things. I often sit at the gallery and I will paint while I'm there from pieces brought from my or Christine's garden. My mum wasn’t an artist but she sewed and made all our clothes. That started me off and inspired me. I was headstrong and knew exactly what I wanted in clothes. I found I was able to design and make patterns and mom would then make them up for me as she was a beautiful sewer. My sister, mum and I had a market stall and we would make up clothes as well as soft toys and sell them there. My sister would do the delicate hand embroidering on the faces – they all live in Melbourne. I took art at school all the way through - as well as sewing and graphic design. I ended up going to Tafe, but I had my young son at the time and it was just too hard. Eventually I got a portfolio together and I was able to go to art school at Victorian College of the Arts. Over that time I also had a pottery market stall and worked in a hobby ceramic store teaching people to paint on ceramics and I also created a wholesale range which I loved. I always seem to have worn a lot of hats and it can be exhausting. I found that I needed to stop and think what I wanted to do – I needed to take some time off to concentrate on my art. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? The corner with our table and chairs which are beside the fire-pit, I think. We spend a lot of time out here – even toasting marshmallows in winter. I also have a door out of my studio as well as a window - and it is great to look out at the garden from there so that is definitely another favourite spot. What is your favourite plant or flower? I have always liked succulents and have them in the house and they are easy. I am not the greenest thumb! I also love roses of all types the old fashioned ones and also lavender - probably because I remember them from living in Victoria. I do love natives now and I would love to have a gum tree if I could - plus grevilleas of course. Do you have a favourite garden? I certainly loved my mum’s and my grandmother’s due to the great memories I have from growing up there. I have always enjoyed being in the bush and camping near the lakes inland in Victoria. I lived in the Mornington peninsula for 15 years. I do love being around gum trees. Now we have frangipani here of course – they felt so exotic when we first arrived - bare at this time of year of course but they cast beautiful shadows. My mum had lovely gardens – she lives in Melbourne and her garden backs onto a golf course. She has always propagated lots of her plants from other gardens and the result is quite lovely. In our childhood garden she had a fernery – in fact my grandmother had one too! They lived in Bendigo and my grandmother had a spectacular fernery there. It was like a greenhouse and it was full of maiden hair ferns etc and I remember my mum also had a huge flowering gum in the middle of the garden. I really loved that gum! How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? It is definitely part of who I am, and I can’t not make something. I didn’t paint for about 6 years when kids were little - but I sewed and baked and did kids craft - so always been making some form of art. I had my first market stall was when I was 12. If I am not making art, then I might be arranging things on a table in the house – but now I am painting almost all of the time. I don’t journal all the time, but I plan and paint things in my mind before I start. I take pictures in my mind and know how it will look even before I start. I also paint ‘plein air’ and take photos to use for the houses that I paint. I do enjoy life drawing too – I really love the challenge of that. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I never quite managed to make it work for me as a full-time job, but I have always done art as part of my life and I have done other creative jobs and it is part of what I do. I could almost make a living now from my art - but it is hard to find time to make enough art pieces – I still wear a lot of hats so it is a balance. Could you talk us through your creative process? Well for instance my house paintings are about documenting place and time – I like to save memories of things that might be lost. I love the nostalgic feel of these older places – the emotional connection I feel towards saving memories of great homes I might see. I might see a house I drive past – sometimes it is the colour or the shadow falling across a building. They are not always pretty but the light and the shapes that I see make them beautiful to me. If I think the house might be lost or taken down then I might think it is important to paint. I take photos and then I paint onto plywood – I like the wood showing through a little. I use acrylics mainly now as they are easier and less toxic to paint with than oils. I paint traditionally with a tonal underpainting and then I have fun with the colours afterwards painting them in. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? Being part of the Collective in Lennox – I have been there 5 or 6 years now and that has been very important for me. I needed to get back into it. I and entered the 'Smalls' competition when I got here and I won it - which was fun - and a little time after that they asked if I would like to join them. Now I am quite active in the group and I help curate a lot of the shows – I love being part of that. I see that as creative too What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think it is to just keep going – to work every day to believe in yourself. It is something I think all artists find hard and it never goes away- it is a constant challenge. I constantly have to overcome the self doubt and ‘imposter’ syndrome. It is really hard to put your art out there – self-promotion is very challenging and its not much fun to feel you're being judged. Being part of the group certainly helps me a lot and I think is the best thing possible for my art development. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? Just keep painting – just keep doing it. You will doubt yourself but just keep going! What are your top tips for a great garden? I am a 'make the best of what you have got' person – and as I rent I bring that to my gardens. I have never created one from scratch. I find that I work with what I have and work to improve it and make it my own space – adding things to it. It is, of course, important to find out what grows in the area and what grows in each space. It is harder when you rent but I do what I can – gardening is therapy and you want it to feel like home. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? I am part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ with Christine Reid this year - which I am excited about. Plus of course I am part of the Lennox Art Collective in the main street of Lennox Head where I always have some art on display. You can see my work there, or on my Instagram which is narellebrethertonart. I am always happy to discuss commissions or sale of my works.
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Kay KnightsI am an Australian artist who is crazy about her garden and I'm inspired by the colours and contrasts in my backyard. I truly believe that Gardening is Art - I believe that many Artists are similarly inspired in their gardens. This Blog is for me to go and meet some of them and share their gardens and art. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |