AWARD WINNER 134
Page was the Grand Prize winner of International Artist magazine’s Challenge No. 106, People & Figures.
Inspiration is found around everywhere for artist Ginny Page, who resides in Denmark. She is particularly drawn to patterns, textures and reflections that create unique imagery. Examples include shadows through a lace cloth on the washing line that make patterns in the grass or reflections and distortions from silverware. She also finds inspiration from the Old Masters, with Albrecht Dürer’s artwork being a reason why she wanted to become a professional painter.
Several of Page’s paintings have been influenced by the work of past masters. Still Life with Prawns, which depicts prawns on a pewter dish, was inspired
by the food still lifes of Flemish painter Clara Peeters (1594-1657). Another piece, Girl in a Golden Cornfield was painted in a Madonna style and its decorative techniques were inspired by the icon paintings of Giotto (1266-1337). The work, done in oil and gold leaf on canvas, is a portrait of Viktoria in her mid-20s at the peak of womanhood where the golden cornfield represents peace and fertility.
“There are certain elements in my work that I consider very important for personal reasons. I believe wholeheartedly that an artist must be true to his or herself. What is the point otherwise?
Despite sometimes criticism and advice from others, I choose to paint the things I consider beautiful and inspirational in my own heart,” she says, adding that it is important for her work to have elements of nature and to capture simple pleasures or understanding from the viewer.
Still Life with Pansies and Bee is one example of nature becoming the subject of her artwork. “I love the flat, smiling faces of the pansies and the reflections in the simple glass vase,” Page describes. “The bee arrived on the scene again—a small and delicate creature but with the greatest of importance to our precious planet.”
Another piece, Adagio, which is named after the musical term that means “in slow tempo,” is a painting of garden snails. “This time [I paint] ‘ordinary’ garden snails that most consider pests. To me they are the most fascinating creatures—no two are alike, but all perfectly sculpted in both shape in design (in contrast to the maybe not so attractive creature that lives within),” she says. “This painting is about my personal need for both solitude and space, and also the need for taking life at a slower pace.”
For all of her paintings, Page will take photographs, select the best elements from several images and arrange them much like a jigsaw puzzle. Her figurative works begin with an idea, followed by a photo shoot and then she chops and changes the images accordingly. Her still lifes, on the other hand, include objects that symbolize what is happening in her own life at that moment in time.
Music has always played a role in Page’s artwork, as she listens to music while she paints and songs have inspired the titles of a number of pieces. “My series of figure paintings started back in 1999,” explains the artist. “I painted my first oil painting of my lovely sister-in-law Helen in her garden in England. She was leaning up against an old tree holding a glass of wine next to her chest waiting for a glint of sun to warm her face. I titled the painting Waiting for the Sun after one of my favorite albums by The Doors.”