Welcome back! Today's feature revolves around lovely Gallery artist, Rhona Tooze. Rhona has a large collection of beautiful and fascinating 'batik' paintings, prints and cards at the Gallery which are well worth a visit to see. I really enjoyed learning about Rhona's creative process and I hope that you all do as well. So without further ado; let's dive into the Q&A!
Q. From what/whom do you draw your artistic inspiration?
A. I love to make batiks of what I see around me, both the natural beauty of Wales but also batik lends itself to buildings and industry. Light is most important element as my batiks are done in tones.
Q. What motivates you to get up in the morning?
A. My first cup of tea! Seriously though, if I have an exhibition or a commission , I can’t wait to go into my studio. I sometimes find it difficult to motivate myself unless someone has asked me to make a picture for them. I am lazy...
Q. How would you describe your artistic style in three words?
A. Semi- realistic batik.
Q. How have you been creatively passing time during the COVID-19 crisis?
A. I couldn’t go to my studio at the beginning of the COVID Crisis so I made homemade cards and painted several canvases. I can’t do batik at home as it is too messy and smelly.
Q. Did you always want to be an artist?
A. Yes, but I thought it wasn’t viable so studied to be a journalist... that lasted one term! I went to Art College the following year .
Q. What is something that you enjoy getting up to in your spare time, outside of art?
A. I like to read, walk our Weimaraner, Cai and eat in lovely restaurants..
Q. What advice would you give to any aspiring artists out there reading this?
A. Have confidence in your ability, but also try to find a way to make it into a living, without compromising your worth. 2020 is a year for true creativity, as normal life has left us for the time being.
Q. Do you have a favourite artist/piece of art?
A. Rembrandt, for his self portraits.
Q. Do you have anything exciting in the works that you are enjoying making/excited to share?
A.I am looking forward to doing some Christmas commissions and producing some batiks for Winter Exhibitions.
Thanks again to those of you enjoying and reading the blog series! I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed it, and if this is your first time reading the blog then be sure to check out the previous series with a number of our lovely Gallery artists on the blog page.
As always, be sure to check out the rest of the website as we are doing our best to keep the virtual side of things up to date during the fire-break as we are sadly not allowed to open the shop in person. Have a browse through the artists' pages and the online shop, and even enjoy free postage and packaging on anything you purchase from us online!
Stay safe and see you soon for the next blog update.
Lowri and the QSG team.