Raw Emotion

It is vital for this artist to feel a painting, as this is what guides her to create her works of art.

Irene was born in El Salvador in Central America. Even though her family migrated to Brisbane when she was only five, her Latin origins are evident in her passion for life and people.

With architects for parents, a writer for a sister and a musician for a brother, creativity runs through her veins. One of her fondest memories is with her father at his drawing board, drawing lines for his designs as he held the ruler for her. She remembers being kept preoccupied as a little girl with design magazines and told to choose her favourites; little did she know that while it was buying her parents some quiet time, it was helping her creative eye.

With Spanish as her mother tongue she began primary school with little English, and so found it easier to express herself with drawings rather than with words. During this

first year it was hard to make many friends as her English was quite broken. She became acquainted with her pencils and won her first art competition. That was the moment she fell in love with art.

Years passed. She could speak English fluently by now but continued to excel in anything creative. She didn’t think much of it; it was just something she loved to do.

More years passed. Through high school she grew an attitude, fought the rules, argued with her art teacher, not knowing why things had to be done a certain way. Somehow, art was still where she excelled.

As soon as high school was over she headed to Europe for 18 months. Seeing that she had some talent, her new boss in Geneva bought her three lessons teaching her how to use oils. These were to be her only formal lessons outside of school.

The years preceding Europe, back in Australia, Irene wanted to make money and fought against her artistic cravings. She was scared to be a struggling artist and so pursued many other avenues that seemed more logical or safer than an artistic career. In the end however, she caved. As any artist knows, art is not something you can avoid, it is in you, and for a true artist it is scarier to be away from it.

Irene is self-taught; she has not undertaken any formal courses, however that does not mean she has not learnt from anyone else. There have been two artists who have played a big part in developing her skills.

The first was Andrew Wild. Prior to meeting Andrew, Irene’s paintings were two-toned and simplistic, they sold but she didn’t feel they had the integrity she believed an artist’s work should have. Irene strongly believes that an abstract or simplistic artwork represents more when the artist has the fundamental skills to paint realistically but has calculatedly chosen otherwise, like one of her favourites, Picasso, who had the skill to paint realism but

chose to create something different. To have skill and not just creativity is what she craved.

Andrew was there for her first formal attempt at a realistic portrait using oils. He gave her a paintbrush, a palette and said, “off you go”. It was one of the greatest lessons she’s ever had. She left with two things that day, confidence and Raw Umber. The selfportrait looked nothing like her but she knew it was just the beginning.

Irene and Andrew painted alongside each other quite a few times. He never told her what to do, however he impacted her more then he’ll ever know. He had images of paintings by his favourite artists all around his studio to give him inspiration and teach him lessons. Yet for Irene, painting alongside such a talent as Andrew was the real inspiration. He introduced her to colours such as Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna, taught her that Phthalo Blue and Raw Umber was a good mix for black even though she could never get the balance right. To this day she uses much the same palette that he gave her; Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Titanium White, Burnt Sienna and Phthalo Blue.

Secondly there was Luke Barker, an award winning established artist with years of training and experience. She felt so privileged to be able to paint alongside Luke, and even more so to be able to share his studio for the months that followed. Here again, there were no formal lessons, but she learnt one of her biggest and most important lessons; patience. Luke’s paintings are detailed, complex and captivating, and she quickly learnt they cannot be achieved without patience. It’s about taking your time and not rushing through. Luke and Irene paint very differently and have different approaches, however, they both shared a passion for art. He never told her to paint his or any way, but every small tip or suggestion that Luke would throw at her would send her

leaps forward.

While Luke and Andrew are both very different artists, the tip that remained the same was to place each stroke of the brush on the canvas with intention. That is how Irene now paints, and each stroke in her paintings has been thought about, especially when they seem otherwise.

Irene starts with an idea, then with a photo-shoot followed by a long sitting in front of a blank canvas to choose the right image. Then starts the hardest part for her, the sketch. Irene has never traced, used a ruler, a projector or grids. It is important for her to always draw free hand, she feels that integrity is part of what the buyer is paying for, even if it means her paintings aren’t perfect. She believes there is perfection in imperfection.

The sketch is never detailed and always seems to change shape as she builds with paint. She always starts with Raw Umber, usually from the face out, and always with a wine in hand. It is important for her to feel the painting as that is what guides her through.

Irene has two styles. One is tighter, detailed and complete. The second, while still detailed in areas, looser and exposed. The one thing constant and most important to her is emotion.

It has been a few years since she confessed her love for art. When she paints she knows she is doing what she was born to do, a feeling inexpressible by words. She has had many solo exhibitions, entered many competitions and sold many works. As a portrait artist, her dream is to make it through as a finalist in the Archibald, and one day even win it.

Mob: 0416 179 502 Email: irenevides@msn.com Web: www.irenevides.com ■