Artists of Australia
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Inspired by the colour and texture of the outdoors -
Maria lives down the end of a cul-de-sac on a really pretty block of land with lovely trees - and horses and sheep in neighbouring fields. Yet again I discovered a stunning studio away from the house but Maria also has a really huge room off her home that she uses as an additional studio / gallery area for when she is exhibiting. Everywhere you look in her studio and home there is art! For those who know Maria they already know how prolific she is, and I visited just before her annual sale started and was therefore able to see the vast spread of her work in the gallery area. Maria explained that her painting journey started off when her children were small, and she began with Folk Art. This gave her a number of skills including brush loading and control and colour mixing. At that time, she was part of the Queensland Folk and Decorative Painting Society. It was a few years before Maria began moving into other painting styles as, in the beginning ,she found it a little daunting – almost hard to believe when you see her many works on display today! Does your garden influence your work – either in what you create or how it affects you? I have always loved flowers and always have flowers in the house. We have been in this house nearly 20 years . We lived in the studio while we built the house which took 18 months. The garden perimeter was planted with natives and there were taps all around the garden but the rest we had to plant out. I created it mostly from cuttings and seeds. I do paint plein air sometimes. For my first venture I decided to go off by myself and camp to paint. I had just started landscapes and I didn’t want people to watch me, and judge me, so I took off to the other side of Kyogle to a place called Running Creek. I camped at Andrew Drynan Park - a little place with toilets and about 15 bridges that zigzag across the creek along the road on the other side of the border ranges. I camped there for a couple of days and painted. I don’t think painting ‘plein air’ would suit beginners as things change so quickly in the landscape - you need to understand colour and know how to mix it quickly. Do you have a favourite corner in your garden? I think here on the side of the studio – blue is my favourite colour. I also have lots of blue glass and pottery. I nicknamed myself ‘Bower Bird’ as I collect blue things. I do try and put blue everywhere in the garden – the Agapanthus here and I have Dogbane which is smothered with purple flowers. I also have a Sage bush which has blue flowers - as well as a Tibouchina that is a bush version with many little flowers. What is your favourite plant or flower? The Magnolia - I think. The Little Gem Magnolias I adore – I have a couple at the front of my house on either side of the front door. How does the act of ‘making’ relate to your personality and who you are? I know that I have a diverse practice. There are times I can focus on something more detailed, but I only work on one thing at a time. If I have done something quite difficult and time consuming, then after that I will paint something where I literally splash paint around and just play. I don’t like to work in series – I am rather random – you never know what you will get from me! I have resigned myself that I haven’t found a style – I am so influenced by so many things and I want to be good at so many styles like landscape, abstract, flowers etc – I would like to do it all well. But maybe I will never do it really well - but I will do it well enough. I think that is enough and part of who I am. I am like my dad – near enough is good enough. There’s always going to be someone better than you, but we are all trying to be better. I think teaching has taught me more about art. Students take you off in different directions and you need to solve lots of different problems – like how to mix a certain colour. There wouldn’t be as much motivation to paint without teaching – I feel a motivation to produce work to show my students that I am still learning and producing. I go and study with a number of teachers – I call it my-self funded hobby. My teaching has always been there to pay for my tuition in many mediums. Back from my ‘folk-art days’ when I taught that style. I think decorative painting led me into my painting of today. I felt I just painted in a ‘craft style’ but after going to a ‘real’ painting class I realised I knew a lot more than I thought I did. So somewhere along the line I decided I was like what Margaret Olley said – ‘I am a painter not an artist!’ I try to be as versatile as possible and I think that is why people like to come to my classes. I have stopped a lot this year, but I do still have a class at Riverbend at in Ballina. My studio is now just for myself for the first time ever – it took me a while to realise I could leave it all out (paints etc) and feel comfortable in that space. Tell us about your career journey to date – did you always want to be an artist? I have always drawn and been interested in art . I still have a painting I did of a horse in my early teens. They were very important to me during my childhood. I didn’t really enjoy school that much and was horse crazy I did study art when I was at school in Ballina. Up until about year 10 they didn’t really teach you how to paint – we did a lot of study about the history of art but no real study about how to paint. After school I worked with my parent’s business – Vados - in Ballina. They built it up from a tiny business when they moved here from Holland. They were in the migrant camp for 6 weeks but because dad was a carpenter we were sent near here for work – I was born here. I worked for a while in the office and in sales then I married in 1981. I was in the fortunate position that John had a great job. When we got married, he said well we have a house why don’t you quit work and so I went to pottery and weaving classes and kept dabbling with my folk art. It was fantastic as I tried a lot of different hobbies and craft. I like renovating furniture and my dad was called ‘Mr Fixit’.. I can’t throw things out - I look to improve and make them better – just like my dad. He is 99 and still fixing things! I have been fortunate that over the years I decided if I wanted to improve, I must go and learn from the best. I found out that you need to find a teacher who will progress you past where you are now. I found these at the Grafton Art school where I went for a few years in a row - as well as to the Bathurst Art school during university holidays. I had some great tutors like John Wilson; Herman Pekel ; Ros Psakis; Leon Holmes; Kasey Sealy; John Lovett; Lyn Diefenbach ; Colley Whisson. Each was entirely different – from landscapes to portraits and water colour. It is all about adding to that repertoire of skills. There are so many different methods to learn about including ‘plein air’. I think my main love is oil painting - even though I paint mainly in acrylic right now. I find they loosen me up as I can’t get as much detail. I think my work is becoming looser over the years. Could you talk us through your creative process? Somebody once said to me ‘If I fail to plan, I plan to fail’ and I have to start with a plan for my painting. I sketch all my works first – especially if it has to look realistic. It is even more important if it has perspective. Then I draw it on the canvas – or if it is really complicated, I use a grid or a projector to put it on the canvas. Sometimes I will paint organically but it really depends on what it is. I paint mainly from photographs, but I do enjoy plein air painting - and sometimes I even paint from my imagination! I might mix an imaginary background with a photo in front. I think it takes a long time to learn ‘taste’. I think I also realised that it takes a ‘wow factor’ to make a painting work. I’m always attracted by light and shade and I have always painted to please myself. I had my gallery in Ballina for two years from 2012. I found a shop that was derelict in Kerr street and realised I had always wanted a little gallery. It was an old shop with a very old house out the back – so I asked if I could rent it till it sold. I ended up feeling so comfortable there that I ran 6 classes a week out the back - and I always had a new painting every week in the spotlight in the window. Through this I sold a lot of work – it was a great time really – even though it was started in order to help me to recover from depression. I had been suffering quite badly with the ‘black dog’ – it took me a long time to realise what it was. Now I realise that it is better to talk about it. I realised that I didn’t want drugs to help me through it, but I needed to keep busy and work it out myself. A doctor told me exercise and keep busy – keep out of my head. This was a motivating factor in getting the gallery and keeping busy. The building sold and I was devastated at the time, but it was time – my parents needed more help and so it all worked out at the right time. I needed that gallery for those two years. I learnt so much during that time. The work was all mine - so it was a personal gallery. What has been your most crucial tool to grow your creative business? The gallery - where I learnt about marketing myself and talking to people about my art. I had a strategy while there - if I had a little painting that I wasn’t sure about I would feature it at the door and it usually would sell. Everyone has different taste and you never know what people will like – I have about 40 paintings that I haven’t hung in this display, and I might put those on the bonfire. If you are going to be a professional artist, you need to be ruthless, I think. What has been the most challenging lesson learnt since you started your art? There is a lot of grace involved in teaching. When your students become very good you have to be ok with that. I have had students beat me in competitions and that is great. I am very proud if they win something. What’s been the best thing that has happened to you since you started? This week has been pretty good selling 4 paintings. I think it is always a huge ‘kick’ when someone wants your work on the wall. I prefer to win a People’s Choice prize as that's who buys the art - not the judges. I won The Bentley art prize one year which is a nice accolade to have. I sometimes think about stopping painting and travelling more or going to spend more time as a grandparent. I wonder if it is time to change - but then I am not sure who I would be without my painting. Do you have any advice you might give your younger self? Go hard – be determined. I didn’t get serious till later on. I taught all the years - virtually from the start and I have students now who have become great friends. So have faith in yourself earlier and if that is what you want just ‘go for it’. Opening the gallery was the best thing I ever did as it gave me a credibility I never had before. It was such an important place for me to be at that time. What are your top tips for a great garden? I like blues and white – I made a decision not to include much orange or red. I think it is important to plan the size of plants, take into consideration where the sun is across the day and getting it to work for you. Also, if you plant in red soil like Alstonville then things grow very well. If I see plants that I like then I ask for cuttings - so my garden has mostly grown organically. The little riverbed and bridge were planned, of course, and I put in the agapanthus and roses for the white and blue cool colours. 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/ and I will be running my own show same time . If you would like to see more of my work online you can follow me on my Facebook page mariasfineart and also on Instagram mariaheatonart
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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 |