Friends, You are invited to join us at Mags Hobbs's showing at Gallery Night and Day this April 25th and 26th both 4-8pm. at the Milwaukee Marrriott Downtown 625 (625 N. Milwaukee St.) • 414.278.5999
Artist Statement
Painting, it is said, is a passion, a quest for self expression and a chance at creativity. And so I find it has become for me, an exciting passion and a great joy - and yet it is also a huge challenge.
Creating a painting presents a boundless number of questions, with many elements to consider, such as, subject matter, color, composition, values, balance and harmony, to name but a few, and I strive to answer those questions and look for the technique and the creativity to merge easily and that brings great joy. When time has no meaning, and it becomes impossible to get the painting out of my head, then I know it's a passion.
Most artists search for their own original creative path, not to follow the known road but to seek ones own direction and only when the passion takes hold does that embracing walk to self knowledge begin.
As a child growing up in England I was acutely aware of color. I would even buy candy, " for the color" not to eat. I was then, and am still, emotionally excited or saddened by the moods that colors evoke in me. I suppose " the candy" was my first stirring of color consciousness.
Today, in my paintings, color comes first. The interplay of lights and darks, intense color versus neutral warm and cools are all of ultimate importance to me...
Equally important is the actual paint application. The body of the paint, the physicality and the tactile pleasure of mixing and applying paint, mostly with a palette knife, to create depth, texture, effective and energetic marks.
Imagery is not a ultimate goal. Yes, perhaps a suggestion of realism, mostly from imagination and observation, but, for me, the painting creates its own reality. I look for energy and sensuality to create a mood, an arousal of something deep in the psyche, an unusual experience, something that I hope will give pleasure every time I see it.
