Please give us a few words of introduction about yourself

I am an artist/printmaker based in Bristol working in a variety of media. I am a member of Spike Print Studios an artists’ cooperative.

When did you decide to pursue art as a career?

I decided a few years ago. I had been working for quite a while teaching maths, and going along to ‘life classes’ and painting in my spare time. I realised that while I enjoyed maths and liked working with young people, I was only using half my brain and half my abilities and that I should have a go at using the ‘other half’! Perhaps its something to do with being born under the sign of Gemini!

What training did you have?

I did a part-time Foundation course at Bristol School of Art at Queen’s Road. That was absolutely fantastic and it opened up my experience to a broader range of media. That course gave me the confidence to carry of an take a degree course at the University of the West of England . (I got a 2 (i) )

What has been the high point of your career so far?

While I was a student, I has a piece of work selected for the exhibition for the ‘long list’ for the Jerwood Drawing Prize.

General Questions

What’s your favourite quote?

‘You only live once’ (sorry its a bit ‘old-hat’ but its been my driving forc for the last few years!)

Who is your favourite artist?

I have a few including M.C.Escher, Andy Warhol , Francis Bacon and Tracy Emin

What are you aiming for?

I would like to be known for my work which I see as a commentary on the discipline of mathematics. While some artists reproduce mathematical patterns and call it art, I am interested in expressing my ideas and feelings about maths.

How will you get there?

I keep sending my work in to Open Exhibitions and hoping it gets selected (which it sometimes does) . I try to apply for opportunities to get my work more exposure. I am now a selected artist working with Arts and Business Southwest and I am a member of the Observer/Courvoisier Future 500.

Is anything holding you back?

I don’t know!

You and art

What feelings or reactions do you hope to arouse in people who view your work? Are you ever surprised by reactions that you get?

People either love my work or hate it. I use the imagery of a corset as a metaphor for the intellectual discipline of mathematics. some people see my work as being anti feminist and sexist whereas in fact its quite the opposite!

My work combines mathematical and geometric symbolism with what might be seen as a kind of burlesque feminine iconography-a pairing which is quite unusual.

The series of prints: ‘Mathematical Curves’ generally combine a female figure with a mathematical curve.I am trying to show that while Mathematical language can be used to describe elegance and beauty,but that there is also an absolute requirement for adherence to a strict set of conventions and logic. In many of my prints the female figure is constrained by the physical form of the curve. The restraint imposed by the corset symbolises the constraint imposed by the discipline of mathematics on the way the mathematician must think. – Sorry if that sounds a bit philosophical!

From start to finish, how long does it take for you to create your work?

I’m not sure. I’m very cerebral in that I think about images and plan them in my head rather than on paper. ideas can be floating around for ages.

What music do you like to listen to when you work?

I don’t really listen to music.When I’m working I have too much thinking to do.

What are you working on next? Any future plans or projects in the pipeline that we should look out for?

I’ve got lots to do with plenty of ideas based on mathematical curves, symmetry and patterns.

Being inspired by art

Who (living or dead) inspires you? and why?

M.C.Escher. he was a brilliant printmaker with some very clever ideas.

What feelings, subjects or concepts inspire you as an artist?

I am inspired by mathematics and the beauty and elegance of many mathematical forms. However mathematics is a strict discipline and I find this juxtaposition very interesting.

What is your favourite work that you’ve produced so far and why?

‘Parabola’. It’s so simple and elegant and expresses what I want to say very succinctly.

Thank You Mary!

You can see more of Mary’s work at www.maryrouncefield.co.uk, plus she has some exhibitions this spring, see here for more info.

Please give us a few words of introduction about yourself

I currently live and work in Glasgow. I studied painting at Edinburgh College of Art and went on to complete a Masters in fine art in Barcelona. I work in a studio at home and divide my time between teaching, painting and looking after two children. I am currently working on a series of painting’s documenting all my journeys in one year and hope to show this piece in a solo show at the Howden Art Centre in December 2011.

When did you decide to pursue art as a career?

My father was a civil engineer, but he had always had a very keen interest in drawing and painting so as a child I was exposed to art at an early age. He would draw and paint whenever he had a spare moment. When I completed my A levels I was torn between studying English at university or completing a Foundation art course. My father and my art teacher helped me to decide to follow the path of becoming an artist

What training did you have?

Foundation art & design – distinction

BA hons Drawing & Painting Edinburgh College of Art – first class

MA European fine art – Barcelona

What has been the high point of your career so far?

selected for New Contemporaries by Keith Tyson & Susan Hiller in
1999

Shortlisted for the John Moores painting prize in 2010

General Questions

What’s your favourite quote?

‘only nature could free a painter from the tyranny of history’ Paul Cezanne

Who is your favourite artist?

David Hockney (his latest Yorkshire landscapes really inspire me)

What are you aiming for?

To earn a living & to gain some recognition

How will you get there?

Show my work and aim to get selected for ‘big name’ prizes

Is anything holding you back?

Time!!

You and art

What feelings or reactions do you hope to arouse in people who view your work? Are you ever surprised by reactions that you get?

Feelings of joy and sometimes sadness. Before I embarked on painting I would produce a lot of installation work, this work often had a comedy element and made people laugh.

From start to finish, how long does it take for you to create your
work?

It varies greatly depending on the piece but something like ‘Going Places’ or ‘Into the night’ took about 6 months.

What music do you like to listen to when you work?

I don’t always listen to music but if I do it is either classical or currently a band called XX

What are you working on next? Any future plans or projects in the pipeline that we should look out for?

The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London in March

Being inspired by art

Who (living or dead) inspires you? and why?

Frida Kahlo – She is such an inspirational artist, especially for women. She struggled against many things in her life but always managed to produce great art.

What feelings, subjects or concepts inspire you as an artist?

I like to reflect the changes that are happening in the modern landscape, things that are going on in our everyday lives.

What is your favourite work that you’ve produced so far and why?

‘Going Places’ This piece marked a turning point in my work. This was the painting that started getting my work noticed again

an artist’s advice

For those thinking about turning a passion for art into a career, could you give any advice?

Give it a go, it is never too late. My dad took early retirement and went to art college at the age of 50 and now paints full time.

Any tips on how to get your work seen and get the commissions coming in?

Buy artists newsletter it’s a great resource for opportunities and commissions. Don’t be afraid of approaching galleries yourself, sometimes it does work.

Thanks Jayne!

Visit Jayne’s website here: www.jaynestokes.com and feel free to make comments below!

Please briefly introduce yourself

I am an artist currently working in the medium of paper cutting. Each piece is individually cut with a knife and a cutting mat. I am drawn to this simple art form as it is very satisfying turning an ordinary piece of paper into something magical. My work is inspired by nature as well as folk tales and myths. I’m interested in the work being open to interpretation by the viewer.

When did you decide to pursue art as a career?

A few years after leaving art collage I started selling my work while working part time, then a two years later I completely devoted myself to it. I started off doing the animal paintings which were really successful but I wanted to move onto other things to push myself creatively.

What training did you have?

I studied a BA Hons in Fine art/Sculpture and an MA Illustration and sequential Design at Brighton University

What has been the high point of your career so far?

Probably my work being taken to an art fair in New york this May. The first ever piece of art work you sell is a really good feeling too.

General Questions

Who is your favourite artist?

Louise Bourgeois

What are you aiming for?

To be fulfilled creatively as well as making money from it. If you get the balance right I think your doing pretty well, I feel like i’m heading in the right direction.

How will you get there?

I’m trying to be more experimental in my work and give myself time to do this as well as working on the pieces to sell. I think this will ultimately make my work stronger.

Is anything holding you back?

I think I probably put constraints on myself as sometimes it can be a little scary trying new things and breaking away from what you are doing if it is successful.

You and art

What feelings or reactions do you hope to arouse in people who view
your work? Are you ever surprised by reactions that you get?

I want people to get pleasure from my work. I enjoy it when my work sparks their imagination, i’m interested in peoples different responses and like that it is open to interpretation. People often build their own stories which is what I want the viewer to do even if it is completely different from what I might have in my head.

From start to finish, how long does it take for you to create your
work?

I really believe that a piece of work results from everything that has come before it, so although it may take several days, so much more time goes into making a piece of art from all the techniques and ideas that you have accumulated over the years.

What music do you like to listen to when you work?

I listen to Radio 6. I sometime have to have silence when starting a new piece of work. The level of concentration I need can sometimes be
intense.

What are you working on next? Any future plans or projects in the
pipeline that we should look out for?

I have lots of ideas of things I want to do. I’m keen to get more three dimensional with my work and also start to use more colour. I’m doing an open house in May for brighton festival, so may do some more nautical themed work inspired by sea shanties. I would also like to get my work screen printed onto home furnishings, lampshades and possibly t-shirts etc.

Being inspired by art

Who (living or dead) inspires you? and why?

I love outsider (untrained artists) art. I did work experience for an indian artist, Nek Chand who inspired me greatly. The abundance of creativity of such artists and the naive beauty in the work is what moved me. I really enjoyed the exhibition ‘Museum of Everything’ last Dec. It’s definitely worth following any future exhibitions they have. It was an exhibition of outsider artists which was so refreshing, accessible and fun.

What feelings, subjects or concepts inspire you as an
artist?

I’m interested by concepts found in myths and fairy tales and often use these as starting points for my work. I really enjoy drawing from nature in my work and get a lot of pleasure from this as well as from the more dream like side to my work.

What is your favourite work that you’ve produced so far and why?

I think my most interesting work is probably that of when I was a student. I created a one off artist book that I would never part with as it took me months to make. It inspired me to go on and make the paper cuts. My favourites of those are the ‘Forest fox’ and ‘Spirit of the sea’.

an artist’s advice

For those thinking about turning a passion for art into a career, could you give any advice?

Try to keep that passion alive by knowing how far to compromise for a sale. Always try to keep your creativity flowing by not always trying to please the public or galleries, i think it’s important to give yourself the time to try new things, experiment and make a mess.

Any tips on how to get your work seen and get the commissions coming in?

I have just set up an art page on facebook. Please become a ‘fan’ an follow what I’m up to – Amy’s facebook page. I find it a great way to reach people and them know of new work and exhibitions I’m doing. I have found that one thing generally leads to another so even If you don’t always sell much most opportunities are
beneficial in doing.

Thank You Amy!

You can find our more about amy and see her work on http://www.amywilliamsart.co.uk/

and also follow here on facebook here: Amy’s facebook page

I caught up with her in Tokyo on her third visit to Japan; she’d just been to a flea market and picked up an antique Japanese doll for next to nothing.

What led you to become an artist?

I recall a conversation with my mum when I was small where she asked me what I’d like to be when I grew up. My reply was, “I guess I’ll just be an artist, what else can I be?”.  But after a little thought I asked her “can a girl be the Prime Minister?”. So I concluded “either that or an artist”.

You have an ongoing performance collaboration with Narinda Reeders called ‘Hit And Miss’.  Is there a recurrent theme in these performances?

By pure coincidence we both turned up to a party dressed the same – roller skates, red and white. We did know each other but we weren’t particularly close friends at the time, however we both concluded we should try the same thing next weekend. So next weekend we went to a friend’s gig dressed in suits. Because we were dressed up people expected us to perform, so we started hitting an egg on the dance floor with a stick.  And so it continued.

We found we didn’t like performing though – we can’t act and we just burst into giggles, so we decided to be still.  So for pretty much every installation our bodies were presented as dead objects. There’s a movement known as tableaux vivant (still life).  Before photography, wealthy people would pay people to reenact a painting, motionless, like “the last supper” etc. We started looking into it, but found that holding a pose for more than one hour is really hard. We realised we had been meditating in these positions, because we were breathing and relaxing and started to discuss what we were thinking about. This really brought us together and was really personal.

In terms of theme, we try to keep it playful – as we have nothing to lose but we like it to be a challenge at the sametime, hence the name ‘Hit And Miss’.  We think to admit failure isn’t such a bad thing, it’s an inherent part of creativity. We’re constantly embarrassing ourselves in front of people on purpose – it’s really therapeutic and very different to our own individual work.

What kind of reaction do you get?

I think the best reaction has to be the one we witnessed at the Royal Mile, Edinburgh. We were wedged between two phone boxes, our faces pressed against each other for an hour. One little girl came up with her dad and the following conversation ensued!

Girl: “What are they doing”

Dad: “They’re wedged behind the phone box”

Girl: “Why are they doing that?”

Dad: “Guess it’s probably art, darling”

Girl:“Yes but why are they doing that?”

Dad: “Well I think just because they can”

Girl: “Coool!”

During another performance where we had to be completely still, we had one kid was shouting at us “move! – stupid girls, come on MOVE!!!”.  It was really hard not to laugh.  One person kissed us; quite hard not to react and stay there.
(You can see more about ‘Hit And Miss’ on their website here: http://www.hitandmiss.me )

Are many of your performances/projects funded or commissioned?

Not usually. I might get an invitation but it will be along the lines of “can you come and do something at an opening – material costs covered”.

However I have been funded for working with groups of people and collaborations.  For example, “New Ruins” was a funded exhibition in old jail – it paid for six Glasgow artists to come to Melbourne and six artists from Melbourne itself.  The show was open for free to public;  it was only open at night and was pitch black so all the visitors were given a torch!

Another example of funded collaborative work was when I approached a private collectors group to sponsor an ‘art in houses’ project.

The group would pool their resources and periodically commission or purchase a single new work.  However, we wanted  funding to pair up several artists with home owners and get them to produce some work especially for those houses, which would then be open to the public for viewing. I came up with the suggestion that we use about 70% of the budget to fund the artists material costs and then the private collection would be able to choose one of the artists to commission a new work for which they would receive the remaining 30% of the budget [good business thinking Tai!]. The group loved the idea and it was a great success for all involved.  For my own work I was recipient of Australia’s Runway grant. This funded me to go to Berlin to do some work in “new media”, but all I did was give a talk about my work which doesn’t really have anything to do with new media!

What advice would you have for aspiring performance artists?

Don’t worry about what people think; do what you want to do without worrying about what the audience makes of it.  Inevitably some people will love it and some hate it.  It’s key that you get what you want out of it.  As long as you don’t rely on it to make you money it really doesn’t matter what people think.

Who’s your favourite performance artist

Daniel Freakly – The Quote Generator; he only speaks in quotes and is travelling the world at the moment

You also create some equally entertaining drawings and illustrations. First up, tell us about your Hirrafes!

I guess I started drawing them out of a subconscious  love of horses and giraffes. Giraffes have an ugly face and horses have a thick ugly neck, so one day I drew a ‘Hiraffe’.  A whole range of charactars have evolved.  In fact there was a period where all I drew were Hiraffes!

They don’t have bodies. There have been suggestions that I draw other similar animals, e.g. Gronky; half-donkey, half-giraffe, a Girony; half-giraffe, half-pony – but this sounded too much like a meat product.

Amongst your collages, The Madonna/Chiwawa made me laugh my arse off.   In fact I think it’s the first image that comes to mind when I think of your work. With your collage is there any deliberate message, or are you just having fun as you make them?

The Chiwawa happened by accident.  I was cutting off the ears of  a chiwawa (not a real one!) and the head off a madonna for something else and they both were on the same table at the same time.  Then I realised what a perfect match they were!  I love collage; it’s one of my favourite things – it gives you so much freedom.  You work with these bits and they come together and make their own story; it’s like you’re a channeler.

Do you sell your work or have any of your drawing works been published?

I’ve had some of my illustrations published;

Maiden Voyage – book of illustrations, came out last month
Herding Kites – book of poetry and drawings (review)
Artichoke (my favourite review of a great performance by Post)
Curvy magazine – Annual book of female illustrations round the world

What’s next for Tai Snaith?

Thinking about having kids – and travel!

Generally I just strive to keep extending my boundaries and challenging myself rather than just staying happy.  It makes you feel alive.  I like feeling a bit nervous about things. I’d love to be able to achieve bigger things on a bigger scale, not just creating for the sake of creating, to use those skills to do something bigger.

Recently I’ve become aware of the importance of being creative and adding something critical; to work out what you are trying to express and communicate it in language;  “why have I drawn this picture?”.  To this end I spent ten hours the other day, without leaving my apartment, thinking about why I was obsessed with this particular plastic greyhound (that I was considering using for some work).  It really made me think about what’s on the inside of me,; like meditation,v it’s a way to give you time to think.

Thank you tai! you can get in touch with tai through her website www.taisnaith.com

Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

Catriona Cornelius | website

15 images uploaded, painting mixed media
Acrylic Texture Artworks

Rhizomeatic Ugg | website

12 images uploaded, mixed media mosaics

Lindsey Power | website

20 images uploaded,

New Work Uploaded

1463 new items uploaded since 13/07/2009.

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Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

Lindsey Power | website

20 images uploaded,

Stella Magarshack | website

9 images uploaded, painting sculpture
Paintings and prints

Hal Lever | website

32 images uploaded, painting drawings
Diverse subjects

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1561 new items uploaded since 06/07/2009.

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Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

Lynn Imperatore | website

58 images uploaded, drawings painting
narrative works…drawing, painting, mixed media

Daren Horwood | website

10 images uploaded, painting
I enjoy painting In the style of Pop Art

Tessa Charles | website

26 images uploaded, prints
printmaker

New Work Uploaded

1653 new items uploaded since 29/06/2009.

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Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

Daren Horwood | website

10 images uploaded, painting
I enjoy painting In the style of Pop Art

Tessa Charles | website

26 images uploaded, prints
printmaker

June Walker | website

17 images uploaded, painting drawings
I paint people and animals.

New Work Uploaded

1621 new items uploaded since 22/06/2009.

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Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

Daren Horwood | website

7 images uploaded, painting
I enjoy painting In the style of Pop Art

June Walker | website

15 images uploaded, painting drawings
I paint people and animals.

Adam Murphy | website

5 images uploaded, mixed media drawings
Professional abstract and representational mix media drawing and painting

New Work Uploaded

1464 new items uploaded since 15/06/2009.

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Welcome to the latest edition of Art Round!
This week we have included a round up of what’s new on The Artists Web

Welcoming Our Latest 3 Artists

June Walker | website

15 images uploaded, painting drawings
I paint people and animals.

Gary Phillips | website

36 images uploaded, painting painting
a collection of large works , paintings,

Rachael Woods | website

19 images uploaded, painting
Abstract paintings which are an expressive response to nature and life

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1308 new items uploaded since 08/06/2009.

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