Questionnaire from Harriet Jones of Whitchurch High School in
Cardiff, South Wales, U.K  02.11.09

Q.When did you decide you wanted a career in art and design? Was it from an early age or something you realised from another career path?

A. I knew I wanted to be an artist from the age of 6 years old. My artistic talent was  God given, though I did train very hard to develop it. I have always gotten more satisfaction from creating artwork, then any other activity.

Q. Have you always preferred working with paint or do you enjoy working in other materials too?

A. I’ve always loved working in oil paint the best. I guess that was what I was always most impressed with when going to art museums and such… so I set my sights on that. I do enjoy drawing, and throwing pottery on the wheel also.

Q. When creating a piece, do you come up with ideas on the spur of the moment or carefully plan each piece from primary sketches/photographs etc?

A. I plan the direction, and palette I want to use in the painting, but don’t shy away from an intuition to change directions as the painting is in it’s early stages. I think it’s important not to be too rigid with your planning. Sometimes I sit in front of a canvas for hours before starting the painting, just letting my mind work out some of the challenges I will be facing in the coarse of the painting.

Q. Do you ever get briefs you are required to work towards – if so, do you enjoy the challenge? Or do you find them too restrictive?

A. Sometimes clients are pretty specific with their requests, but it doesn’t bother me. I think that my paintings are pretty consistent either way. I probably enjoy having no guideline better though.

Q. How did you first start to get your work exhibited? What advice would you give to someone starting out for them to get their work seen?

A. I guess I would encourage you to first make sure you are cut out to be an artist, not so much in talent but in desire.  If you are unsure if being an artist is the right choice for you, ask yourself if you could possibly be satisfied in life if you weren’t an artist. If you could, then being an artist isn’t for you. If you wouldn’t have it any other way, and are willing to sacrifice just about anything to live your life as an artist…then you are likely going to be a successful artist. My opinion is that unless you feel that strongly about it, you will never make it in the art world.

To show your work, start by doing small art competitions and community art shows …then enter higher end juried shows and fairs…then approach galleries,  maybe take out ads in magazines…definitely take it one step at a time.

Q. What advice would you give to someone wanting to become a practicing artist making an income from their art?

A. Marry a rich man or woman…or plan on being very poor for a while. It takes on average ten years to make it (make a non-poverty wage) as an artist….for me it took more like three years, but I loved every second of it, then and now..

Q. Does selling your art provide enough income or do you supplement by doing other work e.g. teaching, lecturing etc?

A. I’ve been very blessed to have an art career that makes enough that I don’t need to do anything else. It was a huge investment of time and money to get it to this point though.

Q. Who or what has been your main inspiration for you art work?

A. My inspiration is first and foremost the fish that I paint, and the rivers, lakes and oceans they live in. My choice of style and presentation is a result of looking at what was being done out there by other artists, and trying to offer something new and fresh, rather then offer the same thing.

Q. What is your favourite piece of art that you have created and why?

A. I really don’t have a favorite… all my paintings have some successes and some failures, and when I look at my work, those are what I see. I think sometimes the artist of anything isn’t the best person to talk to about their art because they usually get caught up in the details.

Q. Do you think time is an important factor when creating art – i.e. a piece that took longer to make is “better” than a piece which took up less amount of time?

A. Time is not a factor in the quality of art. Some art has more details or is bigger, and their fore takes more time to complete. But all artists need to figure out when to say when and end a painting, and allow themselves some satisfaction, even though the piece falls short of what they perceive as perfection.

Q. Do you hand-stretch your canvases or surfaces, or buy them ready-made? Do you think this is an important factor when producing artwork?

A. I do hand stretch my canvases, because it offers more quality then store bought canvases. When people are paying good money for your work, I think you owe them the highest level of quality you can, good canvas, good stretchers, a well-stretched canvas, and good hanging hardware.

Q. Are you working on a piece or collection at present? If so, what is the subject of it?

A. Currently I’m working on a piece for my saltwater collection. It is a four-panel composition, of a permit chasing down a crab fly. It’s been a challenging painting, but I think it will push me out of my comfort zone a bit, and make me a better painter in the end.

Q. How did you come across your technique, were you inspired by another artist or did you stumble across it?

A. I came up with it through painting a lot, doing a lot of shows, and getting constant feed back from people at the shows. They really liked some of my work, and didn’t care for some.. I tried to never take it too personal, to just benefit from what people had to say.

Q. Do you think about what is “commercially” viable when creating your work?

A. As an artist that must paint to pay the mortgage, I have no choice but to be pretty choosy about what I spend my time painting. That being said I certainly didn’t choose fish as my subject matter because they where the most commercially viable subject. I guess there is a fine line that all artists have to draw in the sand, when is following your creative vision going to lead you into the poor house, and when will it lead you into a successful career as an artist?