The Night Owl Artist

Stamina and a never-ending quest for perfectionism ensures that this artist is up until all hours, creating her marvellously detailed and colourful works of art.

Ihave been interested in art since I was a child. My mum said to entertain me she would sit me down with some pencils and I would easily occupy myself all day. I enjoyed art throughout my school years doing multiple art subjects, but after graduating I did not pursue it any further.

I have always remained creative, trying many different avenues such as jewellery design, fashion and photography. But it has only been in the last two or so years that I have really started to pursue my artistic side through drawing, and will try to see where it might take me.

I am self-taught, attending a few workshops here and there. I enjoy learning, and have a lot of art books that I refer to. I believe you should never stop learning new things. Knowledge is extremely powerful and with the correct knowledge you have the power to produce amazing things.

I really admire the work of Bec Winnel; she would have to be one of my biggest inspirations. The detail in her pieces is super human! Audrey Kawasaki, DielaMaharanie and Kate Tucker are among some of my favourites as well as the greats Dali, Picasso and Australian artists Ken Done and Jeffery Smart. I have found Instagram is a fantastic place

for finding and connecting with other artists around the world.

As I work full time as an imports coordinator for a shoe company, which can be quite mentally draining, art for me is like a form of relaxation or meditation. I find sometimes that I think a lot when I draw, or I am totally lost in the zone and I can switch off all thoughts altogether and get lost in my own world. Usually this way I can end up finishing a piece and not feel like it was difficult as it just flowed. I try not to overthink it. I believe for me that is the best way.

In saying that though, there is a fair amount of pre-planning that goes into each piece. I will generally research

for hours, sometimes days to find the perfect subject. I often take little pieces from a variety of images to piece together a reference that I am happy with. For this reason I can’t live without my laptop! I have many folders of images that have inspired me. Whenever I feel uninspired I go to these folders and I can almost always find something that will spark an idea.

I grew up on the Gold Coast in Queensland, and if you have grown up in a beach town you will know the feeling of going down to the beach, sitting on the sand and using that time to listen to the waves and clear your mind. There is some kind of serenity about staring at the waves and out to the horizon. I do this often as a way to keep myself grounded and on-track.

I love colour and this is reflected in my art as well as in the way I dress! All kinds of colours and patterns, natural and man made together can inspire me. I tend to draw late at night through to 2 or sometimes 3am. My friends and family think I’m crazy and often ask how I function on such little sleep, I simply reply, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead!” I find I am my most creative self late at night. I’m not sure if it’s because I am in a state of delirium, but whatever it is it seems to work for me!

Working in such detail can be very challenging and I am often also questioned how I can be so patient as some of my drawings can take up to 40 hours. The answer is I don’t really know. I am definitely not that patient with regular day to day activities.

I have a kind of obsession of sorts with precision and detail in my art. A lot of things I feel could probably be left as they are, but I find myself going back over older drawings, adding in more and more detail. With each new piece I produce I feel my techniques are improving. I don’t think I am ever completely satisfied that any of my drawings are actually complete.