Tag Archives: artworks

Take five with… Lyn Aylward, figurative portrait paintings

Lyn Aylward’s paintings are concerned with the human figure, portraying people from different backgrounds, in both figurative, narrative works and more traditional portraiture. Her distinctive, realist paintings also explore human relationships, family ties and recollections of childhood.

Family (from on high) oil on canvas ©Lyn Aylward

Take five with… is an ongoing series of informal interviews with Artworks artists. Without further ado, let’s ‘take five‘ with the figurative painter Lyn Aylward, who is a new member of Artworks.

Which person most encouraged you to first become an artist?
My mother first encouraged me. She studied to be an art and history teacher at Southampton during the 1960s and had (and still has) a wonderful sketchbook that she worked in that is filled with portraits and figurative studies of her room mates and friends during her time there. I have always wanted to have a sketchbook that was half as good as hers and I definitely haven’t managed it yet!

Which living artist do you most admire and why?
Chuck Close, whose work is beautiful and for bringing the portrait back into fashion when it was no longer considered to be a modern art form. He is an inspirational artist who comes up with gems such as ‘problem solving is way too overrated‘. ‘Problem creation is much more interesting‘ and painting is ‘coloured dirt smeared on a flat surface, usually stretched around some wooden sticks‘.

Self Portrait, oil on canvas, 2000-2001 ©Chuck Close

Whereabouts in the world is (or has been) the most inspiring location for you as an artist?
I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2009 and I have to say that when I walked into the room that housed the Chuck Close, Andy Warhol and Alex Katz works I found myself in heaven. I was on holiday with my cousins and they had to sit and wait for me for at least quarter of an hour whilst I stood in front of the Chuck Close ‘Lucas’ painting alone. There are many fantastic works of art in the museum and I really would like to go back and spend a lot longer there. My cousins presented me with a printed bag after the trip which includes a photograph on the front of me standing in front of the ‘Lucas’ painting. I obviously stood there for what seemed like ages to them but nowhere near long enough for me!

Lucas, oil on canvas, 1987 ©Chuck Close

What do you listen to while creating – music, a radio station, or do you work in silence?
I am a huge fan of all types of music so often have music playing when painting. The type of music depends on what I am working on at the time. I mostly listen either to a classical film soundtrack or classical music as it is the only way to stop me singing along to songs and losing my concentration! Or it has to be something sung in a different language to keep me from joining in or an audio book – usually Agatha Christie. The golden rule for me is to NEVER put anything on that can be danced to as that just leads to some very dodgy dance moves and some shaky painting!

Dance Teachers, oil on canvas, ©Lyn Aylward

How do you generate or develop ideas for your art?
I tend to scribble ideas on bits of paper and I do have an ‘ideas’ book that I paste into any scribbles, photos or pictures that I think might inspire me at some point. I am inspired by other artists, photographers, film, books and often the people around me so ideas can spring from anywhere.


Clare and Katie Leaping, oil on canvas ©Lyn Aylward

Could you describe your art studio set-up.
One room, no running water, no heating and the scariest steep staircase but it has wonderful big windows so excellent light. Brilliant in the summer but freezing in the winter!

What time in the day are you at your most creative?
Definitely during the morning and the worst time is during the evening.

What is the purpose of drawing for you as an artist?
Drawing is incredibly important for me. I always begin paintings with preparatory sketches. I never go straight to the canvas. Plus I think that even if my sketches are not brilliant, they have helped me to really look at my subject so that when I get to the stage of working on canvas I have already got a good feel for the subject/sitter.

Delusions, oil on canvas ©Lyn Aylward

Is there an art medium/technique you’d most like to try but haven’t yet?
I have never tried etching and I would love to try this as I like the idea of being able to have more freedom to draw than some of the other printing methods. I have only printed using lino, lithography and collagraph to date.

If you had to choose between using a pen or a pencil – which one and why?
I would always choose a pencil. The way that you can make different marks with a pencil is the reason why. Plus you can start a sketch using very light marks so that you are able to correct any mistakes and I find that a pencil enables me to give more tone than ink.

Do you have a personal motto?
I heard Antony Gormley say this in a TV documentary and I have stolen it for my own motto! It is on the back of an envelope and pinned to the wall in my studio. It is ‘what is worth doing, do it completely and tell it like it is‘.

Waste Man, 2006 ©Antony Gormley

Thank you very much Lyn, for ‘taking time out‘ for the Artworks blog – we appreciate the insight into your creative world! Read more about Lyn Aylward‘s work on the Artworks website or view more of her paintings on her own website: www.lynaylward.co.uk

In addition to being a new artist with Artworks in 2011, Lyn Aylward is also an active member of the Norfolk Artists group Breckland Artists. She exhibits her work at a number of galleries throughout East Anglia and also accepts portrait commissions.

There will be another ‘take five‘ artist interview on the Artworks blog soon, so stay tuned…

ARTWORKS : Artists making an exhibition of themselves

A not-to-be-missed special evening of artists’ demonstrations, in association with the annual Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barns. This special event is sponsored by The Curwen Press. New to Artworks in 2007, the Artists Making an Exhibition of Themselves evening (AMET for short) was a resounding success.

Artists Making an Exhibition of Themselves

on Saturday 1st October 2011, from 6pm to 9pm.

Lynn Hutton demonstrating image transfer techniques

AMET is a special, one-off event when some of our Artworks artists set-up mini working studios in front of their work in the Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn, to demonstrate the media, materials & techniques used in their art, ready to answer any questions that visitors to the exhibition may have about their art.

Valerie Armstrong explaining collagraph printmaking

The atmosphere is always bustling, creative & very inspiring – and refreshments are also available in the adjoining cafe gallery. In previous years our artist demonstrations have included:

Pastel Painting NOT Drawing

Taking a (wax) line for a walk with brilliant dye colours

Wire Sculptures

Watercolour Landscapes

Lost Wax

Transferring textures and images onto surfaces

Linoprinting

Acrylics in Action

Flowers in Watercolour

Constructing a Collagraph Plate

Printing on Slate

This special event proves very popular year after year and the next Artworks AMET evening is  on Saturday 1st October 2011  from 6pm-9pm, at Blackthorpe Barn – a special date for the Artworks diary!

We also have artist demonstrations throughout the Artworks exhibition so please follow our new blog and check back in early September 2011 to find out who will be demonstrating on the days you might like to visit the Artworks exhibition!

The Artworks 12th annual exhibition runs from 10 September – 2 October 2011, open 10am – 5pm daily, at Blackthorpe Barn, Rougham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP30 9JG. Admission is FREE.

You can read more about Artworks history and view full profiles of all our exhibiting artists on the official Artworks website.

Take five with… printmaker Janet French

This week, the Artworks blog has a ‘take five’ chat with artist printmaker Janet French. Janet’s artistic process & practice is concerned with nature and the environment:

‘My work explores the fragile symbiotic relationship between man and the natural environment. I work in tune with nature to create work that is testimony to my interaction with materials, conditions, seasons and weather.’

Janet French, Fagus Diptych – Part One, 62cm x 62cm

Nature, landscape and the environment seems to be a strong theme in much contemporary art. In your own work, you use natural materials such as beech leaves to create handmade paper which you then use to print on.

Are there any contemporary artists that you particularly admire?
Environmental artists like Chris Drury, Richard Long and David Nash most interest me because I share the desire to work with the available materials in the environment.

How do you generate or develop ideas for your own art?
My ideas often come from unexpected sources. A few years ago I joined a group of London artists in an exhibition in Bethnal Green. The common theme among the group was ‘earth’ and I decided to look at satellite images to see what earth could be seen in the area of the gallery. This sparked a continuing fascination with aerial views. Other ideas simmer away for years, occasionally rising to the surface but never quite resolving in to finished work.

Janet French, Bethnal Green, 54cm x 56cm

Could you describe your art studio?
My studio space is a converted garage. It is full of bags and buckets of leaves and fibres in various stages of papermaking production. I have a small table top printing press which is good for small work and for working through ideas. For larger work I go to Gainsborough’s House Print Workshop which has a wonderful range of printing presses. I like to plan a piece of work and make the paper in my studio at home and then produce the finished print at Gainsborough’s House.

What do you listen to while working in your studio?
Turning the radio on to Radio 4 is part of the ritual I go through as soon as I enter my studio, along with lights, heater, overall etc. Whether or not it stays on depends on what I’m doing. If I’m preparing paper or clearing up ink I like to listen but as soon as I’m doing something creative I turn the radio off. In a typical day I never seem to hear a whole programme.

What time in the day are you at your most creative?
I am always up early and most creative in the morning. If I get off to a good start early, I can keep going until about 5pm but I can never work in the evening.

What’s in your current sketchbook?
My present sketchbook has become a great unwieldy heap of drawings, photos and notes on scraps of paper, all of which relate to my present obsession of light seen through trees.

If you had to choose between using a pen or a pencil to draw with – which one and why?
I prefer pen to pencil and particularly like water soluble ink pens with watercolour paper. I like to draw quickly, add some water, and when it is dry work back into the drawing with pen.

What do you think is the role of an artist in contemporary society?
One of the by-products of creativity is the ability to see things in a different way and to present new ideas in a way that no one has seen before, as well as highlighting beauty and the expression of human emotions. In some cases, artists are in a position to reach multitudes of people by using their status to bring attention to a worthwhile cause or environmental issue. For example, Richard Long’s Africa Mud Maps, which Long has made for auctions and whose proceeds have contributed to aid for the developing world.

One of the most interesting things that artists can do is spur public conversation and in future I may find that I am able to draw attention to endangered species or threatened habitat through my own work. I am currently working on a collaborative print project with another printmaker Emma Buckmaster, and our aim is to produce a series of tree portrait etchings on related leaves.

Janet French, Into the Light, mixed media on beech leaves, 34cm x 32cm

Thank you Janet for sharing a little of your creative world with the Artworks blog!

Janet French has a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Colchester School of Art. In addition to Artworks, Janet is currently Joint Chairperson of Gainsborough’s House Print Workshop, and is a member of the Essex Art Society and the collaborative artist group Nine Artists.

Originally from London, Janet French has lived in Essex for twenty five years. You can read more about Janet’s environmental artworks on her Artworks page or visit www.janetfrench.co.uk.