Artists of Australia
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Dellene Strong is a fascinating watercolour artist living and working in her home studio on 8 beautiful acres surrounded by rainforest near Alstonville. While she is now known mainly for her stunning watercolour paintings she is also an important teacher who has taught art to many students over the years – as well as working as a primary school teacher most of her working career and producing a number of teacher’s art resource books that have won national awards. It is not surprising that Del’s main focus in her art is honouring nature as she is surrounded by lovely gardens that she has created - as well as a host of different wildlife that are never far away. Her realistic approach to her painting is enhanced by her fascination of the play of light in nature. Another current interest is water and its movement and how light reacts differently through it. Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? Well it is definitely an inspiration just to come out to the studio as it is surrounded by the beauty of nature and it encourages me to create. Initially I moved from one subject topic to the next. I have always loved water and have just finished a series on waves. I made a connection with this lovely surfer who captures 'moments' in the waves with a body camera – even under the water – and he allows me to use them to paint from. You don’t realise just how amazing these 'moments' are until you see the light on the water – I love light and the movement his photos capture. I also paint flowers – like these magnolias which I have been painting recently (see photo in gallery below). I take photos of them and then paint in the studio – I am not a fast painter and I build up layers, so I need to work in the studio. Every morning I walk out and look around - just last week was the finish of some of my tropical Rhododendrons and I particularly love them – the colours are fantastic and include salmon, cream and orange - and now I have a hot pink one! You come out each day and a new ‘gift’ is there that has opened for you that day – flowers are amazing. Since I stopped working 5 years ago, I have really thrown myself into my garden. I was a teacher and then wrote books for McMillan. They were designed for teachers to have everything ready that they might need for a class, even if a teacher had no artistic ability at all. They have been around for 10 years which is apparently a long time – they also won some awards. But McMillan have gone digital now with their teaching. Then I started the art school about 2009 and ran that for 5 years before I got ill and needed to stop as it was just too busy. Prior to that I was a 'teacher who did art' now I have a second chance and I am 'an artist who can teach'. I now feel I am doing what I should be doing and I really feel blessed. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? I think it would be the area along the veranda where I look out over the tropical area that I have developed. I do have separate gardens around the house which I am making – for instance there is a wild-flower garden that I am now starting to make out the back. We are on 8 acres so there is a lot of room. We are on the edge of the Big Scrub remnant. I also have recently made some small ponds with water plants and fish – I don’t want a big pond, but I have had fun making them in these pots instead and learning about the plants and fish to use in them. We also have a chicken coop and will hopefully get a few chickens for it soon. What is your favourite plant or flower? That is so difficult as it changes with the season. I think in spring I particularly love the tropical Rhododendrons and I do adore the Clivea. A surprise this morning was a Lemon Clivea which I didn’t even know I had – the oranges are gorgeous but this lemon one was a lovely gift. I also found buds on the water lilies and a perfect little pink cosmos bloom. A friend gave me some Iris bulbs and a Day Lily and they are planted near each other and I do love them – the purple of the Iris is quite special. Cobalt blue is my favourite colour in paint. I do love colour - but in my tropical garden I have a lot of leaf colour and I love that it means there is interest all year round. Water has been tough here as we are on tank water and we have had a dry few years. It is not easy to garden with limited water - you have to find what grows without a lot of water.. Do you have a favourite garden? I have to say this is my favourite – we have been here long time now. It was literally just a paddock when we came here – you could see the Byron lighthouse when we first arrived. There was no road when we bought it. It took quite a while for us to gradually get things built and the garden evolved. When I was travelling to Jiggi every day to teach I really didn’t have the time to develop it like I have now. My mum was a gardener and taught me all the flower names and she loved Cottage gardens – she lived in Sydney. She took up art at 80 years old and I taught her over the phone – we only painted together a couple of times, but she did really well. She spent a year learning to draw and a little bit of the fundamentals then she did it all on her own. I have a memory of my mum and dad saying to me, when I was quite young, that they were off to art class!! But I can’t remember them going on with it – they never had the time to really get into it then. My mum’s mother was an artist too – she had sketch books with heaps of drawings which unfortunately are lost now. She was a milliner by trade - so she was very creative. Interestingly one of my son's, who works in computers, is now working for the Queensland Gallery. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I tend to be quite literal with how I paint so they end up quite realistic - but I do not intend them to be based only on realism as there are a lot of painterly effects in them. I have a 'precision' about me, and I like to emulate reality - but then I like to add in a colour or focus that somehow blurs the edges. I recently took a trip to the Central Coast and got inspired by the bush there. I did a whole series because the light inspired me there – our rainforests are quite dark, but these sandstone bush areas seemed to be so light that they really affected me. I know I will go back to them. (See some pics of this work in gallery below) There is a huge tree called the 'Grandmother' tree. My husband carried out a ceremony for us to introduce himself to the land - and part of the ceremony is that you hug the tree. The first day I 'met' the tree it really struck a chord in my heart and it felt like a living thing that I hugged. I sat down after hugging the tree and looked up and saw the sun that streamed through the branches and I took several photos of that which really affected me. When I was recovering from being ill, I loved the birds that came to the garden to visit me. As our forest changes around here, the birds change too. I also love feathers – a lot of people have brought me feathers. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I studied art all through school and always had a love of art. My first memory of art was when I was seven and a teacher taught us how to draw a house and we drew the box shapes then he showed how with a little addition I could turn it into a 3 D shape and it just sparked my imagination – I wanted to make things jump off the page! When I left school, l I could have gone into art and would have loved it but the pressure to make a living meant I ended up studying to be a teacher. I was lucky enough to manage to keep art within my teaching. I was always involved in the performances I would make the backdrops and costumes etc. I always looked how I could bring art into all subjects to make them more interesting and more exciting for the kids. That was how I ended up creating the books. I feel now I am in the most exciting time of my life, because I am doing what I want, and it really is my 'purpose'. Now I just do some small one-day workshops. They help with my urge to teach and satisfies that side of me - but it also leaves me all the time to paint that I want and need. Could you talk us through your creative process? The images I paint are usually things that spark joy in me - and that is the gift of painting for yourself. It has to be nature for me – I can’t gel with painting manmade things. And water is always very special for me. I tend to do a lot of work before I even have a brush in my hand – you need to mathematically prepare the colours then you can get into your creative space after that. I am always looking for the light and I try to focus on a special spot where the light is and I focus on that. How will I create the light in that spot? I always want to keep the sparkle from the water colours in my paintings. Subconsciously the effect of what my son and husband do together, in regards to aboriginal works and history, influences me in tiny ways in the paintings. My husband is a ‘rock keeper’ and I have found I have ended up with markings on some of my rocks in paintings which I didn’t consciously mean to make but I find that they are there. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? I really was a self-taught water colour artist – it came to me really. In 2006 when writing the books I needed to do some art for myself and I just took to water colour. I had to learn about all the properties and things like how you don’t have to mix on the palette – you can actually mix on the paper. I am not very mathematical, but it really is something you have to learn to do before painting. I find self-marketing really challenging – I just want to paint. Open Studios is great for me – I like to tell people the story behind a painting and that part I really love. So that would be the most important thing. I do enter some competitions, but it is not a major thing – really it is part of instigating my efforts to make something for it. I did a small piece for the Lethbridge gallery and got in the last couple of years – it is always good to see what the other artists are doing. (Picture taken in studio - cupboard of little treasures) What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? I think it is the discipline of getting into the studio every day to paint – for me gardening also has a strong pull on me. Some days I could paint all day but generally the morning is enough - then I go and garden. I also might go for walks. I do journal quite a bit too and it has been quite an important element of my creativity over the years. I might write and draw and include positive affirmations in it. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? I feel really blessed now, I am a new person – I was very frantic before - now I am calm. Sometimes being quite ill can actually be a gift as it allows you to transform and change your life after that. It can be the kick you need to get your life in order and to the place where you need to be. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? That creativity is a lovely fundamental thing and it is a gift you will have forever – no matter how busy you get in life you will be able to turn to art – no matter what age you can always come back to it. I find it interesting when people ask if I do art therapy as I think all art is therapy!! I also find that often kids who are drawn to art are looking for a safe place to lose themselves. My grandson is really into boy ‘stuff’ but he really loves and remembers all the fun art I might show him. I do try to encourage younger kids not to be too perfect in their drawings. What are your top tips for a great garden? I am always still learning – plants don’t need just water they really need a lot of decent feeding. I like to give them worm water and dynamic lifter regularly. Do you have any projects coming up you would like to talk about? Open studios is definitely the highlight of the year for me and I will have a lot of work on display this year - so it is part of the Open Studio Trail on weekends of 28/29 November and 5/6 December – website info http://www.os-bbb.com/ My work can also be seen at www.delstrong.com
1 Comment
Dennis Mayne
10/18/2020 10:05:32 pm
Del, I really enjoyed reading this article, about you. Next time I drop by I would love to look at your artwork.All the best. Dennis.
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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 |