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Why We Need Artists

Olivia Alexander

I read a quote this week by Edgar Degas which said,

“Art is not what you see, it is what you make others see”.

Wow how cool is that? Being an artist is a privilege!

Learning to See

When I was a young teenager and I began to develop my skill as an artist I found that I suddenly began to ‘see’.

Where once I had noticed the trees, now I saw not just the tree but the textures and amazing array of colours on the leaves.

Where once I had noticed the blue sky between the branches, now I saw those as interesting negative spaces that I just had to draw!

A miracle had happened, my eyes had been opened!

This week I headed back to the Atelier to paint after a few weeks off. I felt challenged to stretch myself with new colours and ideas. To step back from Oceans and let other memories surface.

Earthscapes

I had been reminded during the week of my time working in outback Australia, in particular visits to Uluru and the Olgas.

It’s funny how my memories consisted of the vivid colours, the textures of the rocks beneath my fingers, even the muted green spinifex grass that got imbedded in my socks.

That’s why I paint in the styles of abstract and expressionism. I can express the things that I see and feel about the land or the ocean. I can use multiple mixed media techniques to interpret these and take people into this magical world that otherwise they might miss.

In this crazy busy world it can be hard to just stop and smell the roses and that’s why art and artists are so important.

We help people smell the roses, see the trees, capture the memories of waves and oceans.