What is my art about?
A lot of my art focuses around history and I began researching the topic around 9 years ago (2011). After first moving to Ballarat and marrying my husband Andrew in 2011, I guess living in the city and its history rubbed off on me. It is where immigrants from such countries as Canada, England, China, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, first came to the Australian goldfields in search of gold.
Art on Traffic signal boxes 'Peter Lalor' by artist Penny Hetherington 2011. Cnr of Darling St and Skipton Street, Redan (Ballarat)
Even though I have never been a huge reader, I have always been fasinated by people's lives. It just intrigues me how people lived the way they did and a witty character always brings a smile to my face. Such larrikins that comes to mind are Australian bushrangers Captain Moonlite and Henry B Garret.
Why do I paint the way I do?
Here a a few facts to why I paint in my style:
- Adore colour
- Not a realist, nor do I choose to be
- My art style is called 'Naive art', meaning that many traditional rules are thrown out the window. However there is some elements of composition used to help make the creation interesting. A colour wheel is also used to make the artwork pop.
- Story telling is very important. I am not the greatest at the written word, so I illustrate my thoughts instead
- Artworks can often be humourous
'Bunnies Karens' 2020, acrylic on canvas. This painting was painted during the 2020 Covid lockdown in Australia. At this time, some women (Karen memes) refused to wear masks when entering Bunnings Warehouse stores. One 'Karen' recorded herself on a mobile phone saying that she was a witch and burnt masks in a barbeque, stating that the Australian government should not force people to wear face masks during the COVID 19 pandemic
Edit: I first wrote this post 2 years ago in 2020. More has happened since then.
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/karen-from-bunnings-caught-out-in-bizarre-face-mask-backflip-c-1195843
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