Jane Hoggard is a local visual artist based in Northern New South Wales. She works with various techniques on canvas and the end result is something sensitive, sensual and gentle. Or as Jane describes it herself, “experimental, abstract with a keen interest in line and wide range of subject matter.”
Jane’s art is delicate and sensitive but with an amazing energy and spontaneity in it; strong colours and expressive lines, sensitive and delicate atmospheres, strong contrasts and bold juxtapositions, light-hearted canvases and intricate, detailed studies. She is an artist who works in short, concentrated bursts and finds her creativity through experimentation whether that is in studio, plain air or perhaps a late-night drawing session.
“Foraging, collecting and using different materials will be a basis of inspiration, for example, paper (e.g. vintage manual) or half a sticker off a bar code or a napkin that I incorporate into a piece,” Jane told about her art. “It will usually have some line work or texture that I wish to absorb into the work.”
Being a Visual Artist has always been a balancing act between creative ambition, artistic self-fulfillment and surviving in the contemporary world. It seems that Jane has found that balance, or something very close to it. Her art has recently been featured in TV program ‘Selling Houses Australia’ as well as her work being presented by Fineprint Co. and Art Lovers Australia.
“…’Selling Houses [Australia]’ was a real buzz! I didn’t expect the pieces to get any exposure but I was stoked with the ‘airtime’ they received,” Jane said. “Fineprint Co. is a really big nudge of encouragement for me [as well] as I had been tapping on their door for a few years, so I was so pleased when they took me on board in December. They are incredibly professional, honest and welcoming. … Public validation of places like Fineprint Co. and ‘Selling Houses Australia’ are very encouraging and I will just keep working. Hard.”
These days Jane accepts the diverse aspects of her working methods, embracing versatility of subject matter and medium. She chooses to “play” with everything from oils to charcoal when making art. There is no bad practice, turning up and practicing is the very key. “Play, practice, feel good IN the process and for goodness sake, have a red hot go before you stop yourself with all that negative calamity. Worst case scenario? Paint over it!”
Jane’s drawings are very detailed and delicate while her paintings have fluid surfaces and areas of colour with one or two bold elements that create the detail within the work.
“I have only come to learn in the last couple of years really how different both processes [drawing and painting] are. For me, both require warming up and constant practice,” Jane described.
“Drawing for me is a very meditative process. I do it first and foremost for relaxation and the desire to practice, stacking up drawings in a back cupboard, making very few of them public,” she continued. “Painting becomes an interesting problem-solving process after the initial rampage I have when ‘breaking the ice’ on a fresh canvas.”
“A wise teacher recently told me, play in the studio, judge your work later… permission to play and that’s definitely the attitude I’m trying to employ”, Jane has described her work. “Creating visual work and practicing and learning every day is fundamental need. It doesn’t matter where I stand in the ‘market’ that is flush with practicing artists, but it does matter that I improve, fine tune and share my work.”
As for us all, the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard for the creative industries.
“We were straight into quarantine at the height of lockdown here as we had been hiking in New Zealand. I had workshops and commissions cancelled and was home with my whole family 24/7 wondering … this is the time to skill up, learn, share. So, I did. I readjusted some disappointments realising they were very first world, tapped into some online live workshops and haven’t looked back,” Jane said.
Article by Blank Gold Coast here
