We are thrilled to have abstract painter Heather Duncan join us as our guest artist for October, her work is highly acclaimed and is a visual feast of shape colour and texture. To find out more about Heather read her interview below:
Who are you and
what do you do?
Hi! I’m Heather
and I’m a painter. I live and work in the beautiful village of Kirk
Ireton. My studio overlooks the
Ecclesbourne Valley and Alport Heights, and I never tire of watching the
landscape change through the seasons or the skies change by the moment.
Why do you do
what you do?
That’s a
difficult question to answer in a straightforward way. I paint because it’s how I make sense of the
world around me. Painting is my
language, it is the way I communicate my feelings or passions freely. It is quite simply a huge part of who I
am. When I am not creating/painting I am
not fulfilled. It is through
painting/art/creativity that I can be the best mother, best friend and best
partner that I can be.
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How do you work?
I am not a
painter who has a method or formula by which to paint. I have no formula. I approach each new piece with no
preconceived ideas of what or where I am going to paint. The start of each new piece begins with a
spontaneous application of broad washes of colour picked almost randomly or
subliminally from my palette. Whilst all
of my paintings are abstract in nature, they are all paintings of real
experiences in real landscapes. But it
is my feelings and my experiences that influence what appears upon the
canvas. I do sketch and paint on my
walks in the moors and on the costal paths, but I do not use these back in the
studio. They are merely a travelogue of
sorts. I paint from memory. Once the colour washes are dry I then begin
to feel a memory of a place or an experience begin to emerge from the wild
marks and washes of colour on the picture plane… the memory becomes stronger in
my mind and the painting starts to take shape from there. For a number of years I tended to paint only
large canvases, up to 7ft square… over the past year I have reduced the size of
my canvases and have enjoyed painting many much smaller pieces…. I’d been wary
of going too small believing that my ways of markmaking were too ‘big’ to
transcribe onto smaller picture planes…. However, I have found that my smaller
paintings have become more exciting, even more layered and richly textured.
What art do you
most identify with?
Blimey! What a
difficult question! An artist doesn’t
just have one narrow creative outlet, but applies his or her creativity to
everything in life. (At least the
artists I know personally, and I do this….) I feel like I am constantly
creating, whether that is in the garden, in the home, in my different
professional roles. So do I identify
most with sculpture, with landart, with drawing or architecture? Or is it painting or stonecarving, gardening
or textile design? Whilst I choose to
paint and exhibit my paintings and call myself a painter I identify with a broad range of art practices. I love
poetry, music, sculpture, painting, I use inspirations from these and other arts in my own practice as
an artist. In painting, whilst my own
work is quite abstract, and many of the artists that I love are Abstract
painters, I love the work of Giotto and the Byzantine artists. I am moved by
the work of El Greco, Chagall and Rembrandt… the list is endless. So whilst I have chosen to answer your
question of identifying with art, my answer might not be what you were
wanting! Sorry!
What’s your
favourite art work?
(It depends on the day that you ask me!) Actually I
would find it difficult to say just one piece, but I could give you my desert
island list of 9. But can I choose two
of those 9 for you? The first would be
Piet Mondrians’ Evolution Triptych. I
first saw this piece in Amsterdam when I was 19. It blew me away – I had only experienced his
neo-plastic jazz inspired grid like paintings before…. And then here was this
most ethereal, spiritual, beautiful piece.
It held my gaze and filled my soul.
The second would be Giacometti’s painting ‘Caroline’ – I love the way in
which many sculptors draw and paint… their ability to create the illusion of 3D
in a 2D plane… Caroline is a large portrait done in a muted palette of white,
grey and brown, again a beautiful painting that I never tire of looking
at.
What jobs have you
done other than being an artist?
I trained as a Landscape Architect, at the
school of the built environment in Leeds in the 80’s and 90’s.
I am also a fully qualified teacher of art
and design. My last fulltime post was in
Birmingham as a Head of Art and Design in a 6th form college.
I also trained as a massage therapist and
aromatherapist whilst my husband and I lived in the USA before my boys were
born.
What memorable
responses have you had to your work?
When someone
truly ‘gets’ what you feel about the landscapes that inspire you or the
experiences within those landscapes… when they are moved to write to you and
tell you that your painting has touched them in some way… that is the best
feeling in the world. Recently, I know
that someone was moved to tears by a piece of my work… that’s so touching. At
the last exhibition I had – in Dorset in June – I met a couple who had bought
two of my paintings…. They told me how much they too loved the Moors, and that
they could feel the moors and their own experiences in them when they looked at
my paintings. Amazing.
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What inspires
you?
Besides the
Moors and Oregon, and all those painters and artists already mentioned?
Well, corny as
it may sound, the love of my family and my feelings for them. They are in everything I do.
The poetry of Jo
Bell and Norman McCaig. The writing of
Nan Shepherd, Robert MacFarlane, Roger Deakin and Kathleen Jamie.
Name three
artists you’d like to be compared to.
I’ll set my aspirations high with this one! Cy Twombly, Richard Diebenkorn and Franz Kline.
Favourite or
most inspirational place ?
Can’t just give you one! Has to be two. Firstly, the moors of northern England where
I grew up. And secondly the Oregon coastline.
Professionally,
what’s your goal?
That means I
have to have a plan! I am more of an ‘in
the moment’ kind of girl. My life is one
of ordered chaos. So my plan or
goal? To survive the chaos of the next 4
months! Beyond that, to keep painting
and showing my work nationally and perhaps find a gallery to house my work in
the US.
