Christy Kirwan Interviews DaffodilSky
Insights from an Artist and World-Traveller
Your Hubs are all about different forms of art (painting, decoration, mosaic, etc), and you mention in your profile that you're a professional artist and art teacher as well. When did you first discover your love of art and what was the first artistic medium you worked in?
I discovered I loved drawing as a child - I kept a diary from a young age, which was full of little drawings of birds, flowers, animals and everyday things - food was a favorite! The interest developed further when I became obsessed with horses, which was all I was interested in drawing for quite some time. I was given colored pencils and felt pens by my parents and would fill many happy hours drawing and reading (my other obsession). It gradually became obvious that art was my "thing" and when I left school I carried on to do an Art Foundation year, then a Degree in Textile Design in Loughborough. I experimented with working in many different media at college, and after I left I followed a textile path for a few years designing and making knitwear.
I started drawing and painting again when I moved to South Wales in 1984. I enjoyed using watercolor at college, finding it's freshness and tendency to do it's own thing very attractive (and sometimes infuriating!) It became my chosen medium, combined with colored pencils and occasionally pastels. I often use the flowing, organic marks of a wash of watercolor as my starting point, emphasising parts of it later with pencil.
Teaching watercolour techniques to adults, which I did part-time for a while, was hard work but also very rewarding. It made me analyze what I was doing and taught me a lot. It also gave me the enjoyment of helping the students.
You mention a lot of traveling in your Hubs. What is the most inspiring place you've visited so far? Where do you plan to go next?
India has to be the most inspiring place I have visited - it was so different from any place I've ever been. The culture, the colour and clamour of the streets, and the smells of spices in the air were all intoxicating. The air itself formed delicate gold and apricot pastel layers at sunrise and sunset, and the chaotic and colourful jumble of dwellings in amongst palm trees and exotic plants could provide a lifetime's artistic inspiration.
I feel now as if I have betrayed my love of Italy! Most of my life I have loved the idea of Italy, which I soaked up from books and films. Having now visited Venice and Tuscany I found the country incredibly beautiful; the architecture as well as the landscape. The wealth of art and fascinating history is an inspiration and an education.
Where next? Hopefully South America, Australia, and more Italy!
Do your experience and training in art and design affect your style as a writer? In what ways do you combine these two passions, other than writing on HubPages?
Depending on the subject, I do think my writing reflects my perspective as a visual artist. Whenever I travel I keep a diary with observations, sketches, and bits and pieces collected from different places (tickets, pressed flowers, maps). The diary helps me keep the impressions of a place clear in my mind.
In recent years I have combined my paintings and writings to give an extra perspective on the subject. The exhibitions "Shorelines", "Coast to Coast" and "Artist on a Bicycle" all displayed watercolour landscapes alongside poetry and prose.
Your home and garden design Hubs are extremely creative. What is your favourite decorative feature of your own home? How about in your garden?
I think the calligraphy I have used on glass and walls is my favorite feature at home. I have taken a poem I love, by W. B. Yeats, and used it on glass panels and as a border in my living room. I have used Calligraphy in some of my paintings recently too.
In the garden, I am rather pleased with my pebble mosaic... but the best thing about the garden is the plants! I like to think of gardening as painting with plants. I have an evergreen backdrop, amongst which I put flowering plants in containers, creating little dramas and highlights. The plants are brought into play as focal points when performing, then they go back round the side of the house for a rest!
Your watercolor paintings are very beautiful. Of all the places you've visited, which one was your favorite to paint?
I could paint Venice forever! I know it's all been done before by many artists over the centuries, but there is something about the contrast of ancient crumbling stone with the silken water of the canals and the sleek sumptuousness of the gondolas. Venice's ancient walls reveal layers of history in their details and textures and conjure up such interesting times and lives... Hey, I'm a romantic!
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