JAY LINDEN

HOW WERE YOU FIRST INTRODUCED TO THIS  TYPE OF WORK/ARTISTIC PRACTICE - AND WHAT  DID YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR EARLY  EXPLORATION OF IT?

I started out with weekend courses in watercolour, painting flowers. But after I gave up teaching secondary school english, I decided to treat myself to a full time art course at Greymouth Polytechnic. 

We were taught drawing and design and tried out many different mediums, including stone and jade carving. But it was in printmaking, and etching in particular, that I found my home. I loved the expressive line and rich, velvety darks and my etchings had a quirky, fairytale theme.

HOW HAS YOUR WORK/ARTISTIC PRACTICE CHANGED AND DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS? WHAT FACTORS DO YOU THINK AFFECTED THIS?

For thirteen years I exhibited etchings in group and solo exhibitions, but by the time I moved to the Waitakere Ranges, I was hungry for colour. A holiday in Samoa, being nourished by the radiant, turquoise sea, encouraged me to take up oil painting.

I fell in love with oils from the first stroke - creamy, smooth with luminous colours that layer and blend beautifully.

At first I continued the theme of fairytales, painting a series called The Guardian Wolf an exploration of the Red Riding Hood tale. Learning to paint wolves led me on to painting other animals and developing an expressive, realistic style.

I've always loved birds and taken many photographs, so it was natural to begin to paint them. Using my own photos is important, I've had a personal encounter with the bird and learnt something about its personality and way of moving.

Using various brush techniques, expressive colour and contrast, hard and soft edges, I enhance the photographic information to bring out the essence of the bird in a painterly way. I also play with scale, often painting the bird many times its size, or as a head and shoulders portrait, to give the bird a real sense of presence.

PLEASE DESCRIBE WHERE YOU WORK FROM? WHAT DO YOU FIND SPECIAL ABOUT LIVING OUT WEST? 

WHAT CAN VISITORS EXPECT TO SEE WHEN  THEY VISIT YOUR STUDIO DURING OSW?  

My studio is in our garden on the Cornwallis peninsula and I feel totally blessed to be working surrounded by such beauty, listening to birdsong and taking walks by the sea and up to the monument. 

During the open studio, visitors can see both etchings and oil paintings - some of which will be work in progress. I have quality giclee prints of some of my bird and cat paintings available to purchase. There will also be plein air paintings of Cornwallis. These seascapes are done outside in one session, some from the beach, others from the ridge of the peninsula, looking towards Whatipu.

Photos by: Sarah Allen
www.sarahallenphoto.co.nz