Influences


Over on our group Watermarks blog Lindsay has just done an interesting post on Kurt Jackson. Tomorrow I'm doing a follow up to it.

It made me digress into influences on our work and the importance of looking at other artists past and present, learning, but retaining our own 'voice'. We are all influenced, consciously or unconsciously by work we see. David Prentice quotes Rupert Bear (childrens books) as an influence with their aerial viewpoint in the illustrations. :>) His work has this wonderful feeling of flying slightly above the scene but isn't remotely illustrational.

I love marks - splatters and scratches and brushmarks and knife marks, drawing with a twig to get those lovely not-quite-predictable marks I also love colour and masses and line. I spent some time managing to work out how to unite my disparate interests into a cohesive image when I was at college.

Influences range from KJ to Monet, Turner, Gwen John, Joan Eardley, Egon Schiele (love his use of line), Cezanne, Ross Loveday, David Tress, Rembrandt, Aubrey Beardsley, Lucian Freud, Rothko, Pollock, Toulouse Lautrec ...... and so many more, elements of lots of people have influenced me - some seemingly incompatible - the incisive fluid lines of Schiele and the colour fields of Rothko - but hopefully that's what makes me, ME, managing to combine elements of influence but twisting them in my own way

image 1: Monotype - a one-off monoprint using oil paints, wet sand, shells and pebbles as the tide ebbs

Image 2: plein air oil painting on a winter day, wet sand and mud. where the creek meanders down to the sea in the evening light.

Do check in at Watermarks - there are some great people there and some lovely work and lively discussion :>)


Comments

Making A Mark said…
I love that painting at the end - it needs to be bigger!

Gwen John has made it on to my list of possibles for women artists to look at this year
7:13 pm
Chris Bellinger said…
Hi Vivien
I await with interest the post on Kurt Jackson.
I recently saw his exhibition at Gosport on his Solent Project, which was fantastic.
Have a link on my site (30th November 2008) which shows a painting and is froma article that was in our local paper.
i think the show moves to newpor .Isle of Wight about now.
8:05 am
vivien said…
thanks Katherine :>)

Gwen John was a fascinating character - I did a lot of research and a presentation on her as part of my degree. She'd be an excellent one to write about.

Hi Chris - yes I read your link at the time and would have loved to have seen the show.

Check over on watermarks - there are some video interviews with KJ that are really good.
6:20 pm
Anonymous said…
It's interesting that you talk about your love of mark making. Having followed your blog for a while now, I am starting to see images and know it is your work before I see any artist name. Yours marks really are your signature. I like that :-)
7:55 am
vivien said…
I'm happy about that :>) thanks Cath
2:12 pm
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