2022 Feature Artist
Julie Hamann
"I am a pastel artist. I love the expressive potential of this medium. It can be rubbed back to just stain the paper, applied in lush powdery layers, blended to soft clouds of colour and bold raw marks. The materiality of this medium and its capacity for nuanced expression is very seductive.
Generally the subject matter and ideas emerge out of the manipulation of the medium but it is a complex process arriving at what to draw. Whilst experimentation of media is crucial, the searching is supported by referencing photographic material, inspiring artists work and memory. The driving force behind this creative process is inspiration and imagination. Interestingly many ideas arrive in the dead of night and upon waking up in the morning. The more you work the more the ideas come.
I am not an abstractionist but I am aware my work is increasingly heading in that direction. Over time working with the art and design elements one arrives at an understanding of them like old friends. Line, shape, colour ,tone, texture and composition become more of interest than the figure, landscape, flower and animal.
Mostly it's fascinating turning chalk into something people emotionally and intellectually engage with."
Julie was a visual arts teacher at Glenaeon from 1995 - 2006. We welcome her back this year as our Feature Artist at the 2020 Art Show.
Julie Hamann
