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S. Siobhan McElwee
When did you first become interested in art?
I can’t remember not being interested in art. My mother had Renoir and Cassatt prints up in my room when I was little in lieu of the standard kid stuff. We also had portfolios and books around that piqued my interest very young. I remember very vividly that my favorite painting at about 3 years of age was a Chagall.
And my mom wonders why I became an artist…lol
What style of art do you use most?
Mine. I don’t hold to the notion that an artist needs to stick to one particular style in order to be recognizable, therefore marketable. Look at Picasso…the guy was all over the map.
I do, however, tend to work in series. It’s like I have an idea and follow it through until it’s exhausted its potential for me.
One thing that is constant in all my works though is a strong use of light and complementary color relationships. I also tend to compose in diagonals… I’m not sure why.
Since about 2000 or so my work has become more observational than reactive and more contemplative in nature.
- T’lingit Dancer
Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?
Yes. When I first started my work was more expressionistic. I had kind of a love affair with the Fauves and Bauhaus School. I also tended to work strictly in oils and BIG.
What medium do you use?
Currently I’m working in a combination of graphite, ink and wax pastels on paper as well as in photography, which is a relatively new medium for me.
My illustrations tend to be a combination of digital (Corel Painter IX handled as natural medium) and traditional mediums like pastel and gouache.
What made you choose that medium?
Lack of toxicity. I currently have health issues that preclude me from working in oils. It took awhile to find the right combination of things to give me the stability of underlayers and luminosity of color that I got with oils.
- The Painted Drum
Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
From life at this writing. A majority of my earlier works were strictly from internal sources. As I mentioned earlier my work has become more observational since then. I am however, working on a series of pieces that kind of fuses the two…”The Painted Drum” and “Initiation” are the first in the series.
How do you choose your images and colours?
Light and solid compositions matter a great deal in my choice of images. My color choices hinge on capturing light and color interplay. I never use pure white, I mix all my own grays and never use flat blacks. I’m more likely to employ a saturated color for shadows.
I also have a real affinity for simple compositions…although as of late I’m finding that my work is getting more complicated in that area.
Who is your favourite artist?
Only one?? Impossible to choose. But the list of who has inspired and influenced me is as follows: Rivera, Orozco, Benson, Chagall, Modigliani, Klimt, Schiele, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Nickson and Nerdrum
What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
That’s a tough one. I don’t know that I have a single favorite. “Bodhisattva” and “The Painted Drum” are right up there.
- Bodhisattva
There’s also a couple of oils listed on my website called “Tartarus” and “Pele Wakes” that I’m pretty fond of.
How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
Depends on the piece. In general I don’t work very fast though. I count myself fortunate if I can get a piece completed in less than 100 hours.
How well do you take criticism?
It depends on who it’s coming from and what the motivations of said critique are.
I often ASK for critique of my work from people whose work or eye I respect. I find this especially useful when I get too ‘close’ to a piece.
What I have a hard time with is criticism that’s actually thinly veiled attitude.
What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?
1. Work more.
2. Change what I’m working on…I often have as many as 5 pieces in progress at any given time.
3. Have a wastebasket close and don’t be afraid to use it. I’m learning earn to accept the fact that not everything that I do is a keeper.
4. Go shoot unrelated photography. This gets me outdoors and gets me into pure seeing mode rather than technical mode.
Even if I don’t actually produce anything usable, working chips away at the walls of a block. Some of my better pieces have come from just tinkering around on pieces with no real expectations for outcome.
- Fang Icon
How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
It’s never been easy for me to walk away from a piece. Overworking has been the cause of more failures in my studio than any other.
One of my professors in college suggested that there needed to be 2 people working on any given painting…one to paint the thing and another to stand over the artists shoulder with a stick. Their job is to smack the artist with the stick at the appropriate moment screaming repeatedly: “it’s done…DON’T TOUCH IT”
Hmmmm maybe I should get myself one of those….
Have you had exhibits in galleries?
Yes. Since 1990 or so I’ve shown around the Pacific Northwest in both group and solo shows.
Since 2000 I’ve had solo shows at: Rex Gallery, Travelers, and Patrick Bear Salon in Seattle and at the Alaska Pacific University Gallery at the Spine Institute in Anchorage.
I’ve also participated in groups shows at: Machine works, Rex Gallery, and ArtnotTerminal in Seattle and the International Gallery in Anchorage.
- Initiation
The difficulty that I’ve had in doing shows is that my originals often sell out of the studio before I can amass enough of them to launch a show. I’ve found this to be a bit of a Catch 22 in terms of my career.
Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?
I don’t have any shows currently on tap. I am working on a series of approximately 15 pieces specifically for show at the moment. I’ve found that I need to finish the show BEFORE I look for space to hang and not the other way around. My work and health are better if I’m able to set my own deadlines and work at my own pace.
What are your plans for the future?
I have several new series on the boards at the moment. I’d also like to do some more sculpture, which I haven’t done in awhile.
What advice would you give new artists?
Don’t be afraid to try new mediums and techniques and don’t let anyone persuade you to give up.
You can view more of Siobhan’s work at Imagekind or visit her at http://talkingfox.com
