Interview
November 2022
How early in life did you discover you had an artistic gift?
At school, at around the age of 10 years old, my love of art developed with a teacher at my prep school called Jenny Trussell. Her lessons were the highlight of my week. I can still visualise her infectious smile and the tasks she set us in her classes took me on wonderful imaginary journeys. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude… how lucky to have been in her classes… she was a truly inspiring teacher. The path to artist was a direct route from that time.
Where did you grow up and how did it have an influence on your vintage style?
Born in London but moved to Dubai at six weeks old back in the 1970’s, the pre-tourist boom… a time of adventure, Arabian Nights, sand dunes, empty desert roads and Beduin encampments. My parents’ house was in the Al Bastakiya district, I was raised in a household by parents with creative flair. My Father has eclectic interests, an eccentric soul, inspired by object d’art with esoteric provenance and likes jovial banter. My Mother was in her youth, a ballerina, touring Europe with various productions, and later in life an artist and all-round elegant aesthete. She encouraged my early artistic leanings. My Father travelled around the world throughout my childhood, generously bringing back gifts from places like China, Russia, Mongolia, Ukraine, and so on. With his help, I started collecting hats from all these regions and the hat theme has transcended into the paintings I create today, although with a more British style.
Do you listen to music while you paint? What is your mood during the process?
An insightful question. Soft classical music sets a suitable atmosphere when I’m using pencil and paper to sketch out compositions based on scenes I would like to paint or commissions for clients. Ideas can be developed without too much distraction. As the painting evolves , the larger pieces may require more time if there are many elements to the narrative, I may listen to an audio book or a YouTube interview. The most exciting part is then reaching the completion of a painting. Visual balances and harmonies hopefully become evident. Details added, highlights, glazes added for depth of colour and tone. It’s such an exciting time when the painting really comes together – I like to listen to something bold, dramatic and stirring, usually fairly loudly.
What is your approach to a painting – from sketch to completion? How do you go about your composition? What paints, brushes, and canvases do you use?
As partly alluded to in the previous question, an idea starts with a pencil and paper sketch. If it’s a themed artwork commission like Futuretrack 5 or a portrait, I arrange the contents in the scene within a series of pencil sketches each with a compositional variation. I can then discuss with the client their preferred layout. Once agreed, I then progress to the painting stage, mapping out the composition onto a linen canvas with oil paints. The canvas has a fine weave and is produced in Flanders in Belgium. The oils are produced by Michael Harding, they have a high pigment load, mixed using techniques dating back to the old masters , they are vibrant and do not contain fillers.
How long does it take you to complete a painting? How do you know when it is finished?
There have been times when it has taken up to a year from inception to completion of a piece, particularly if I have been working with a client on a complex large canvas although this is very unusual. Most of the medium size paintings take between 2- 4 weeks to complete. Smaller paintings can take a few days, it really depends on how much details there are. I do like to add a highlight here and there or add a slight colour glaze if a canvas has been hanging in my studio for a few weeks.
When is a painting ever finished?
Good question. I guess when one is happy enough with the result to the point of being able to show it to other people with a sense of pride.
How did your career as an artist begin? What was the one painting that helped catapult you into the limelight?
After leaving school, I attended a three-year training program in Italy. That gave me some technical skills which I used to start a career in portraiture, initially working on portraits of family and friends, acquaintances, then developing into commissions from people I didn’t know. By this point, I had signed up with an agent who kindly suggested I should be put forward for a casting on a TV show. I was chosen, with two others, to paint a celebrity. We started the portraits at the famous London Palladium (a huge west end theatre owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber), where the celebrity sitter, Cilla Black, had appeared in the Royal Variety Performance. The program showed our progress and techniques from start to finish. The final reveal was at The Royal Academy. Cilla chose one portrait to take home with her. As my version rendered and focused on her best features, she took it home with her. Maybe this painting helped change my creative trajectory. This followed up with a solo show in the wonderful Albemarle Gallery run and owned by the real-life legend Tony Pontoni, who gave me my first break into the main London contemporary art scene. Thank you, Tony, if you are reading this. After a few solo shows at the Albemarle, interest picked up initially on the West coast in Carmel, Pebble Beach, and San Fransisco and then Boston and Scottsdale, followed by Marbella in Spain and The Netherlands. Although I have been offered shows in Russia, I look forward to maybe visiting the country before committing to that location.
What artist do you admire the most and why?
I go through phases of influences, I’m really inspired by film, I love Alfred Hitchcock. Also, artists like Windslow Homer, his narrative power is extraordinary, having just visited his Forces of Nature show at the National Gallery London, I was left transfixed by pieces like “The Gulf Stream” and “The Life Line”.
Based on your experience, what professional advice can you give others?
My reply would vary depending on what stage of the creative journey the person might be on. Generally, I would suggest pursuing all avenues of interest in your chosen creative field, listen to your gut feeling. Always be open to learning more about artists you like, their technics and their biographies. Celebrate your individuality, never compromise. The narrative and provenance of an idea is valuable.
If you are approaching galleries to partner with, make sure they represent your type of work, there is no point in being a French abstract painter and applying to a US focused realist gallery. Work hard, never give up, there will be times when you go down the wrong road, keep strong and get back on the right track. Always try to improve. Time is precious, use it well. Celebrate and enjoy your successful pieces, I like to think of the artworks I create as my legacy to future generations of my family, as Stanley H Barkan said, ‘As Yet Unborn’, hopefully it may inspire them in some way.
©Louise Flanagan
