Featuring...

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to a wonderful artist from Bournemouth, UK.  She has a discount code running in her Thirteen Minutes Past for February so nip over quick!

FEB10PERCENT

Tell us a bit about you and your shop

I am a full time artist living in Bournemouth UK. I live by the sea and within walking distance of fields, rivers and forest. I have three cats and two grown up children that keep me fully occupied when I'm not painting. I have two Etsy shops: lavendergeorge and thirteenminutespast, where I sell my original paintings and drawings, prints and notecards in the first shop and handmade glass pendant jewellery using my original artwork in the second.

Where else can we find you?

I also have a facebook page: LavenderGeorgeArt and twitter @lavendergeorge, where I show my art and chat about art, life and the universe with other artists and buyers.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from nature and the world around me. I love wildlife, especially birds. I used to live in London and only ever saw pigeons, sparrows, crows and gulls, but since I have been in Bournemouth I have had to buy a book on British birds because so many different birds come to the garden and along the river, birds I had never seen before. I was ridiculously excited the first time I saw a heron! I also love to see farm animals and there are a few places locally where cows are free to wander beside the river amongst the walkers and this terrified me the first time I found myself within touching distance of a cow, but I love it now. I still love the pigeons, sparrows, crows and gulls though and they too appear frequently in my art.

How long does it take from thinking of a new picture to it appearing in your shop?  Could you tell us a little bit about the whole process?

The process of inspiration to finished picture takes a varying amount of time. Sometimes it can be very quick. For example, I will see a fox wandering down the road and decide to do a watercolour and it can become a painting and in my shop in a matter of days. At other times, I will see a small flock of birds, or a wildflower, or the light falls in a certain way on the river and I will stand and soak up the sight for future reference, not knowing how I want to use it and it may be weeks, months or even years before it becomes a final artwork. I also have paintings and drawings that are never put up for sale. These are usually inspired by conversations or events that have moved me in some way and I paint or draw them to get them out onto paper or canvas to exorcise them, and these are too personal to sell, but I do show them to friends on my facebook page for discussion.
My inspiration becomes artwork with preliminary sketches in a sketchbook, or spare paper, or even the back of paintings that I think haven't worked. I use these drawings to plan the composition, light source and tonal values and once I have something I'm happy with I transfer that to my watercolour paper and get splashing with the paint, or onto canvas where I block in with thin acrylic and then work over with thicker layers (fat over lean).

What advice have you got for any budding artists out there that would like to make a living from their art?

The only advice I could give is practice, practice, practice. The more you paint, the better you will become and the more confident you will feel about your work, and confidence is all. Try everything, all materials, all disciplines, all subjects until you find your unique style and subject, and then you will fly.

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?
 
I don't wish I had done anything differently, because I believe mistakes and failures are good lessons - painful perhaps, but useful and sometimes the best lessons are the painful ones.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why? 

Well, I paint, draw, sew, knit, crochet, I've attended a millinery course so I can make hats and fascinators, probably the only things I haven't tried is pottery and silver jewellery making, so it would have to be those.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?

My most favourite place on earth, apart from my painting room, is my bed. I just love to climb into my bed at the end of a productive day for a good night's sleep with lots of weird creative dreams. For me, that is the best part of each day.

I’m a massive pizza fan, what would be your dream pizza topping?

I am a massive cheese fan, so my favourite pizza topping would be green pesto sauce, slices of real tomato, black and green olives and lots and lots of cheese at least three different varieties. Yummy!

What would your pirate name be?

 My pirate name? - Goody Hagwhisker

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?

 Question - Do you believe in faeries?  My answer - Of course!

 Thank you so much for a great interview.