C.S. Rowan Interview
1) How long have you been making art?
I used to spend hours as a child drawing and painting. I studied art at school, college and University and after starting my career I have always spent most of my free time painting and creating art.
2) What genre best describes the kind of art which you create?
That’s difficult to answer, I’ve never thought of my work in terms of a genre. It often gets called realist which is a tag I dislike because I consider my paintings to be about colour, light and form rather than trying to express a kind of photo realism.
3) How has your artwork evolved since you began?
As a teenager I painted mostly botanical and entomological studies in watercolour, when I started at university I moved on to oil on both wood and canvas and I became fascinated with the human form, which is something that continues in my work today.
4) Is there a medium or technique that you have yet to try but would like to?
Acrylics, I have tried in the past to use this medium and I find it incredibly frustrating to work in, but it’s a medium I would like to master at some point, though I guess working in oils is just second nature to me now.
5) What would your ideal solo exhibition be like and where would it be held?
I have had a small exhibition a few years ago and I’ve also exhibited paintings at an art week with a previous employer, both were an enjoyable experience, both in London. If I was to have an exhibition in the future, I would love to hold it in Canterbury, the place has a hugely vibrant arts scene and is in many respects as cosmopolitan as London but on a more intimate scale.
6) What do you like most about the art world?
Its openness, the way it can be quick to embrace new ideas but still respect and appreciate the past.
7) Which artists either historically or current, have influenced you the most?
Fra Angelico, I love the clean lines, purity of colour and underlying geometry of construction in his work. I find his paintings clear, cool and refreshing. I can also spend hours at the National Portrait Gallery looking at any of Jonathan Yeo’s work. His portrait of Kevin Spacey as Richard III is disquieting yet deeply engaging and gave me goose bumps the first time I saw it.
8) What is your favourite painting/artwork?
Again that’s rather difficult, apart from the Virgin of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico, which has so much about it to appreciate, I’ve always loved Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross, which is spectacular. Contemporary it has to be Darcey Bussell, by Allen Jones, the whole poise of her figure and the use of colour are just amazing.
9) Where did you sell your first artwork and how did it feel?
It was a portrait of a friend in his work clothes (he had an unusual job) It felt fantastic that my work was good enough for someone to actually want to buy it.
10) What are you planning to exhibit at the New Artist Fair in March 2014?
I’m planning to exhibit oil paintings from the collection Firebreathers, which I’ve been working on over the past year. They are about how light and colour describes the human form, as well as how organic flames look. The fire isn’t captured in a single moment but rather a collected interpretation of its transient form and movement.
I used to spend hours as a child drawing and painting. I studied art at school, college and University and after starting my career I have always spent most of my free time painting and creating art.
2) What genre best describes the kind of art which you create?
That’s difficult to answer, I’ve never thought of my work in terms of a genre. It often gets called realist which is a tag I dislike because I consider my paintings to be about colour, light and form rather than trying to express a kind of photo realism.
3) How has your artwork evolved since you began?
As a teenager I painted mostly botanical and entomological studies in watercolour, when I started at university I moved on to oil on both wood and canvas and I became fascinated with the human form, which is something that continues in my work today.
4) Is there a medium or technique that you have yet to try but would like to?
Acrylics, I have tried in the past to use this medium and I find it incredibly frustrating to work in, but it’s a medium I would like to master at some point, though I guess working in oils is just second nature to me now.
5) What would your ideal solo exhibition be like and where would it be held?
I have had a small exhibition a few years ago and I’ve also exhibited paintings at an art week with a previous employer, both were an enjoyable experience, both in London. If I was to have an exhibition in the future, I would love to hold it in Canterbury, the place has a hugely vibrant arts scene and is in many respects as cosmopolitan as London but on a more intimate scale.
6) What do you like most about the art world?
Its openness, the way it can be quick to embrace new ideas but still respect and appreciate the past.
7) Which artists either historically or current, have influenced you the most?
Fra Angelico, I love the clean lines, purity of colour and underlying geometry of construction in his work. I find his paintings clear, cool and refreshing. I can also spend hours at the National Portrait Gallery looking at any of Jonathan Yeo’s work. His portrait of Kevin Spacey as Richard III is disquieting yet deeply engaging and gave me goose bumps the first time I saw it.
8) What is your favourite painting/artwork?
Again that’s rather difficult, apart from the Virgin of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico, which has so much about it to appreciate, I’ve always loved Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross, which is spectacular. Contemporary it has to be Darcey Bussell, by Allen Jones, the whole poise of her figure and the use of colour are just amazing.
9) Where did you sell your first artwork and how did it feel?
It was a portrait of a friend in his work clothes (he had an unusual job) It felt fantastic that my work was good enough for someone to actually want to buy it.
10) What are you planning to exhibit at the New Artist Fair in March 2014?
I’m planning to exhibit oil paintings from the collection Firebreathers, which I’ve been working on over the past year. They are about how light and colour describes the human form, as well as how organic flames look. The fire isn’t captured in a single moment but rather a collected interpretation of its transient form and movement.
