Hard at work painti
PAINTING WITH OILS AND SHARING HER LOVE OF ART WITH HER STUDENTS IS SOMETHING THAT THIS KZN ARTIST LIVES FOR,WRITES LIZ CLARKE
SOUNDS of beautiful music drift across the busy shopping area, not too loud, just soft and mellow. It suggests that where it is coming from is not a shop, but a precinct where imagination and dedication are hard at work.
We’re in Oxford Village, Hillcrest, the lower side, opposite the kiddies’ restaurant, in a street side studio, called The Chattering Easel, where more than 20 artists are absorbed in making their mark with paint and canvas.
Peaceful river scenes, brightly coloured blossoms, bold abstracts and a cheeky puppy are all part of the creative flow. Watching over the group of artists is Midlands artist, teacher, mentor, Michelle Scott, whose encouragement is divided in equal parts among her all-women class.
“She is our inspiration” says Michele Ayton, who started painting 15 months ago. “I didn’t think that I had much talent when I started, but someone like Michelle makes you believe that you can achieve results you never dreamt were possible.”
Fellow Durban artist Annemarie Levine is absorbed in her work. We watch her as she carefully paints the shadows on a flower’s petal. You hardly want to disturb her as you realise that at this moment she is defining another world of colour and texture, where delicacy and feeling are at play.
At tea break she too says that while art and design have always been something that she has loved, having “a mentor and a tutor like Michelle” keeping watch has made a world of difference to her confidence and understanding of light and shade, shape and line.
“I feel I can tackle subjects that before I would have stayed away from. This sort of art fellowship where teacher and students at all levels interact and discuss their ideas, is invaluable. It makes you realise that working in a vacuum is not the same. It’s like first dimension compared to 3D.”
We finally get to chat to the person who describes herself as having “a fun, bubbly and loud
personality” and who makes art come alive in her studio slap in the middle of shop town.
“Starting you own teaching studio, takes a huge leap of faith,” she admits. “Wow, you say to yourself, the rent is not small, can you afford it? Will you get enough students to enrol? Do
enough people want to take their art further? Am I wasting my time and my money?”
Doubts never go away. She agrees on that. But what she has discovered is that not only in the Upper Highway, but in Durban North where she runs another studio, there is a hunger to connect and reconnect with art and creativity.
“I think it is inbuilt in everyone. Doesn’t matter if you are 24 or 84, painting and drawing are universal yearnings, even if people don’t see it themselves in the beginning. I have people who come to me and say they can’t draw a stick figure but would love to learn. That’s enough. They will find the inspiration. My job is to press the right buttons and give them the confidence to say yes I can and guide them through the journey.”
Michelle is happy to tell you that she is self-taught. “I have a nursing background, which is far removed from paints and an easel. I always knew that I had an emotional connection to art and loved drawing in my spare time. But it was only when my three amazing children were older that I was able to pursue my dreams of being a full-time artist.”
Some dreams stay just dreams, but Michelle found the energy and determination to go many steps further exploring her favourite medium, painting with oils.
“I love the way that oils glide across the canvas, the flow and the movement of the paint. When I can I travel to distant places to capture a different subject, to observe a different light that’s always a challenge. I always believe that part of my soul remains on the canvas.”
Many of her paintings have made their way into galleries in other parts of the country and overseas.
Her portfolio includes landscapes, seascapes, portraits, wildlife and cultural work, from realism and Impressionism to contemporary art.
Today she runs her interactive studio and gallery in Hillcrest teaching in her favourite medium, oils. She also runs another studio in Ballito.
“It really is the best of both worlds. I can teach which I love and I can still market my own work and take on commissions. At the end of the day art is my passion. I live to paint, not paint to live.”
She has one wish though.
“I would love to see more guys