“I just wanted to go for it,” Janece Latham said about her about her dual prize winning (Best of Show and Hanger’s Choice) painting “Back Water Blue.”

It’s an acrylic work but as Janece explained she was striving for something different so decided to approach it using watercolour technique.  

"Artist, Janece Latham with her dual award winning (Best of Show and Hanger's Choice) painting "Back Water Blue."

Acrylic paint dries very quickly but wanting to work wet on wet and get movement into the picture she had to work rapidly to blend the colours, rather than just painting one on top of the other.

She also deliberately reversed conventional colour scheme practice by having the light colours in the background and the dark colours in the foreground. 

This changed the focus to the background but created the added challenge of maintaining a sense of natural depth and perspective.

According to local artist Alan Grosvenor, this is the most difficult thing to do. “Janece is well trained and certainly knows what colour is all about. She has produced a beautiful composition.”

Good technique frees the creative spirit and like magic the hands start producing what the imagination conceives.

In the previous ART ZONE I spoke about The “X” Factor and that something extra over and above technique that makes a painting special.

With this in mind I asked Denise Ferris, whom along with Rashida Nuridin, had the task of selecting winners at the Jindabyne Lions Easter Art Exhibition.

This is what Denise had to say:

“Back Water Blue was a work that had a slow burn, it was not one of the paintings for a ‘first’ that either of us initially chose. We went around the entire show a number of times, made short lists and then addressed the Best in Show.

This painting had grown on both of us over time. It revealed itself slowly and once seen was clearly the painting that most affected both of us. Moving in close and moving away, or different lighting for example, something else is observed. The painting holds up to lengthy viewing, it has something to offer again and again when you look at it. The colours are quite strong but the painting style, where the subject matter is slowly seen, with the scene only coming together, finally when viewers keep looking. So it is beautiful but also has some mystery, a painting of something but also not easily grasped in a moment. As viewers we are rewarded.”

   To read previous ART ZONES visit www.pauldion.com.