Creative Process: Artist 1 Janet Cleghorn
I approached a local artist whom I know quite well and whom I have followed for years with her career. Janet Cleghorn I feel has a lovely unique style which speaks a lot about her creative background and the process she goes through interested me.
She is a mixed media artists who focus' on an aerial view of her subject and really combines her colours and patterns well. I asked her how she chooses her subject matter and how she deals with the business side of her work. She is a lovely person who was so open to my questions and I think she has a great commercial potential in her midst.
You studied at Heriot Watt in Textile Design and you can really see that this shows through your work. Between then and now how did you transition from textiles into painting?
I had always kept doing a tiny bit of painting through my time working as a designer.
I was made redundant from my job (textile mill) the week my son was born. I found that after a time I was really missing a creative outlet as I had been used to working with colour on a daily basis for 14 years of work then college and school before that. Painting came as a way to use some of my ideas and something to work away at just for me.
What made you choose to paint mainly still life? Was there a time you painted a different subject like landscape or portrait? I really love your Aerial view compositions. How did you come to focus on this style? (these are two combined questions as she answered them in the one)
The aerial view came about 10 years ago when I was working on a piece for the art club exhibition. I had a spotty table cloth and tartan plate that I really liked and the aerial view was the best way to capture what I liked about them which were the colours and the pattern. For the following year I did a group of 3 working on the aerial idea. At the private view another (very well established) artist came to talk to me about the and suggested approaching a gallery where he thought they would fit in. It's all developed from there.
I really love your blue and white series. Particularly how that lovely plate appears in each. Do you often pick up pieces of pottery or fruit and base your colour scheme around them? can you describe the process?
The spode which features was my grannies china. I've always enjoyed painting them - memories perhaps plus a love for the pattern. I do collect things and hoard a bit. Also friends often lend me bits of fabric/lace or chine they think I might like, they can be the start of a piece as can the flowers in my garden.
Do you mainly work on commission? Or do you tend to approach galleries how does this affect your process?
Galleries always (sadly never commissions) I approach them or occasionally they come to me which is lovely! If things go well and I like working with them I tend to stick with them and not look for anywhere else in that area. I do tend to make the work I give them fit the show. Sometimes they are just mixed and it doesn't matter but when it's specifically the Spring show, I'll think lighter, brighter, maybe some daffs. Anything goes really.
I know you attend the Art Fair in Kelso every year. How do you plan what you are going to paint? Do you literally plan from the end of the last fair to what you're going to paint or are you a bit last minute? Basically, what kind of process do you go through to plan your work for these events?
Last year I had tried a couple of landscape pieces and I was feeling a bit lost but I decided to concentrate on the still life again and the aerial view and just stay focused. I mainly based the work around the two big panels, I knew I wanted to do a delicate, lacy piece and another with lots of blue.
I was thinking about it straight away and had started a few pieces but I didn't proceed and get anything framed till October time when I officially got accepted and was offered this stand. I have worked really hard this year, last year it was so bust and swish I felt I wanted to raise my game. I have done a lot of new work, 17 in total, from the couple of big panels to little ones. I am trying out some tasteful new painted frames on some of them. Hoping to have a smart, Sophisticated stand this year. I'm not taking tea towels or cards or prints, less clutter. I want my paintings to shine.
Where do you source your inspiration? Are there particular artists who fuel your work?
I liked the still life of William Scott and also when I was at school I had a book on Alberto Morroco whose work I loved.
Artists working just now, I would say Emma Williams and Emma Dunbar, love the colours.
Do you keep a sketchbook? I know you keep a file of source material including photos. How regular do you keep on top of your research?
Sketchbook is too grand a work for it, but I have a nice notebook by my bed. I often seem to have ideas at bedtime. I will do little scribbles of composition, write down ideas and make lists of things I want to paint.
I love that you use mixed media and you unusual hauling of papers and boards at work ( we worked together in the past) always made me smile coz I did the same. How long have you been playing with media and how much does this influence what you will paint?
I'm always saving bits as you know. I have been using mixed media since back at school. I met up with my teacher for Sixth year art last year and she was saying it was interesting to see bits of tissue collage etc coming through. Something that I started trying out at school. Just now I'm working on a couple of large pieces on wooden panels and they are in the acrylic paint as they won't be famed so I don't like to apply different media that might not stand up to being varnished then exposed. I'm thinking after them I might go to some small very textured work for a change.
Big congrats on your card collection (being puclished in shops). How does that feel? How was it working with a publisher like that? Did you have control over which paintings were included or was it a sort of negotiation? How did it feel to be involved in something so commercial?
Thank you! It's all been very exciting. They selected the images they wanted to use and then proofed them up so I could approve them. They lightened some slightly as they thought they'd make better cards that way. They checked I was happy with that as some people don't like it. It seemed a good idea to me if they think they will sell better. That's when I wonder if my industrial background makes me more open to adjustment, bit more commercially minded. Maybe still not seeing myself as a proper artist.
Is there anything you would go back and change in your career? What has been the high point?
I don't think so. The time working in mills was hectic but I really enjoyed it. Just suddenly coming across a fabric I'd designed while out and about was lovely. I guess since I started the painting the high point was probably my solo exhibition in Selkirk. It just took so much work to prepare that it felt a real achievement to see it all on a show together. It's nice to think there will be a few new high points to come, fingers crossed.
Lastly, what advice would you give aspiring artists/designers?
Just keep going. Right from the start I have always been careful to frame well, be professional with galleries and really try to maintain standards to presentation. Still a long way to go and I can't see myself giving up the second job anytime soon but looking back 8 years I'm really pleased to have got to where I am.
I also added on a bonus question which is relevant to artists and designers today.
How do you feel that social media has changed the way you share work? And do you think it is the biggest way to make sales these days?
I do make an effort to post on Instagram and Facebook. I wouldn't have though it was much more than a wee bit of advertising until last week. Some one loved the new blue and white painting I did (at the time). They asked to see it when it's finished. So then I might say I love Instagram.
I really admire Janet's work. She has pulled from her designer background and used it in a fine art setting. Something I feel I struggle to justify to people. I have a very designer mind but I love making art which speaks to me. Pattern and colour also play a massive part in my work so I can relate to her fully.
Her process is very relatable. Picking something you are obsessed with and feeding from it. Like a patterned plate or flower. She shows a way in working which is more structured like my own. Making notes and lists.
She is a mixed media artists who focus' on an aerial view of her subject and really combines her colours and patterns well. I asked her how she chooses her subject matter and how she deals with the business side of her work. She is a lovely person who was so open to my questions and I think she has a great commercial potential in her midst.
You studied at Heriot Watt in Textile Design and you can really see that this shows through your work. Between then and now how did you transition from textiles into painting?
I had always kept doing a tiny bit of painting through my time working as a designer.
I was made redundant from my job (textile mill) the week my son was born. I found that after a time I was really missing a creative outlet as I had been used to working with colour on a daily basis for 14 years of work then college and school before that. Painting came as a way to use some of my ideas and something to work away at just for me.
What made you choose to paint mainly still life? Was there a time you painted a different subject like landscape or portrait? I really love your Aerial view compositions. How did you come to focus on this style? (these are two combined questions as she answered them in the one)
The aerial view came about 10 years ago when I was working on a piece for the art club exhibition. I had a spotty table cloth and tartan plate that I really liked and the aerial view was the best way to capture what I liked about them which were the colours and the pattern. For the following year I did a group of 3 working on the aerial idea. At the private view another (very well established) artist came to talk to me about the and suggested approaching a gallery where he thought they would fit in. It's all developed from there.
I really love your blue and white series. Particularly how that lovely plate appears in each. Do you often pick up pieces of pottery or fruit and base your colour scheme around them? can you describe the process?
The spode which features was my grannies china. I've always enjoyed painting them - memories perhaps plus a love for the pattern. I do collect things and hoard a bit. Also friends often lend me bits of fabric/lace or chine they think I might like, they can be the start of a piece as can the flowers in my garden.
Do you mainly work on commission? Or do you tend to approach galleries how does this affect your process?
Galleries always (sadly never commissions) I approach them or occasionally they come to me which is lovely! If things go well and I like working with them I tend to stick with them and not look for anywhere else in that area. I do tend to make the work I give them fit the show. Sometimes they are just mixed and it doesn't matter but when it's specifically the Spring show, I'll think lighter, brighter, maybe some daffs. Anything goes really.
I know you attend the Art Fair in Kelso every year. How do you plan what you are going to paint? Do you literally plan from the end of the last fair to what you're going to paint or are you a bit last minute? Basically, what kind of process do you go through to plan your work for these events?
Last year I had tried a couple of landscape pieces and I was feeling a bit lost but I decided to concentrate on the still life again and the aerial view and just stay focused. I mainly based the work around the two big panels, I knew I wanted to do a delicate, lacy piece and another with lots of blue.
I was thinking about it straight away and had started a few pieces but I didn't proceed and get anything framed till October time when I officially got accepted and was offered this stand. I have worked really hard this year, last year it was so bust and swish I felt I wanted to raise my game. I have done a lot of new work, 17 in total, from the couple of big panels to little ones. I am trying out some tasteful new painted frames on some of them. Hoping to have a smart, Sophisticated stand this year. I'm not taking tea towels or cards or prints, less clutter. I want my paintings to shine.
Where do you source your inspiration? Are there particular artists who fuel your work?
I liked the still life of William Scott and also when I was at school I had a book on Alberto Morroco whose work I loved.
Artists working just now, I would say Emma Williams and Emma Dunbar, love the colours.
Do you keep a sketchbook? I know you keep a file of source material including photos. How regular do you keep on top of your research?
Sketchbook is too grand a work for it, but I have a nice notebook by my bed. I often seem to have ideas at bedtime. I will do little scribbles of composition, write down ideas and make lists of things I want to paint.
I love that you use mixed media and you unusual hauling of papers and boards at work ( we worked together in the past) always made me smile coz I did the same. How long have you been playing with media and how much does this influence what you will paint?
I'm always saving bits as you know. I have been using mixed media since back at school. I met up with my teacher for Sixth year art last year and she was saying it was interesting to see bits of tissue collage etc coming through. Something that I started trying out at school. Just now I'm working on a couple of large pieces on wooden panels and they are in the acrylic paint as they won't be famed so I don't like to apply different media that might not stand up to being varnished then exposed. I'm thinking after them I might go to some small very textured work for a change.
Big congrats on your card collection (being puclished in shops). How does that feel? How was it working with a publisher like that? Did you have control over which paintings were included or was it a sort of negotiation? How did it feel to be involved in something so commercial?
Thank you! It's all been very exciting. They selected the images they wanted to use and then proofed them up so I could approve them. They lightened some slightly as they thought they'd make better cards that way. They checked I was happy with that as some people don't like it. It seemed a good idea to me if they think they will sell better. That's when I wonder if my industrial background makes me more open to adjustment, bit more commercially minded. Maybe still not seeing myself as a proper artist.
Is there anything you would go back and change in your career? What has been the high point?
I don't think so. The time working in mills was hectic but I really enjoyed it. Just suddenly coming across a fabric I'd designed while out and about was lovely. I guess since I started the painting the high point was probably my solo exhibition in Selkirk. It just took so much work to prepare that it felt a real achievement to see it all on a show together. It's nice to think there will be a few new high points to come, fingers crossed.
Lastly, what advice would you give aspiring artists/designers?
Just keep going. Right from the start I have always been careful to frame well, be professional with galleries and really try to maintain standards to presentation. Still a long way to go and I can't see myself giving up the second job anytime soon but looking back 8 years I'm really pleased to have got to where I am.
I also added on a bonus question which is relevant to artists and designers today.
How do you feel that social media has changed the way you share work? And do you think it is the biggest way to make sales these days?
I do make an effort to post on Instagram and Facebook. I wouldn't have though it was much more than a wee bit of advertising until last week. Some one loved the new blue and white painting I did (at the time). They asked to see it when it's finished. So then I might say I love Instagram.
I really admire Janet's work. She has pulled from her designer background and used it in a fine art setting. Something I feel I struggle to justify to people. I have a very designer mind but I love making art which speaks to me. Pattern and colour also play a massive part in my work so I can relate to her fully.
Her process is very relatable. Picking something you are obsessed with and feeding from it. Like a patterned plate or flower. She shows a way in working which is more structured like my own. Making notes and lists.
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