COUNTRY COLOUR | New England LIVING | AUTUMN 2019 | VOL 15
From fashion to homewares, Kate Owen has always followed a creative pathway, and this North Star artist is hard at work in her new studio fulfilling a lifelong promise. Her efforts are coming to fruition, with Kate’s colourful palette about to burst across the New England region, including her first solo exhibition.
“It was such a relief to finally be able to devote most of my time to painting, if only to free my mind of all the stored-up ideas and express them on canvas,” Kate says. “I have always done something with a creative bent, however I knew one day I would get back to my art. This of course would not be possible without the support of my family, particularly my husband Michael, forever patient and just a little bit indulgent.”
Kate cites multiple inspirations, from the work of Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning to Australia’s Laura Jones and Ben Quilty, but it’s the pleasure in her practice that really stands out. “I enjoy the pure, naïve act of splashing paint on a canvas and combining line and shape through scratching back or drawing with graphite or oil sticks. I am greatly influenced by nature and its patterns, shapes and colours. My work is an expression of my emotions and memories of things I see in the landscape around me on a daily basis. I let my subconscious come up with its own surprises.”
When faced with a blank page, Kate looks to De Kooning’s advice: “What do you do when you paint, you take a brush full of paint, get paint on the picture and you have faith.”
Kate says, “I mostly start with experimentation of colour palettes on paper. Sometimes these are works of art in themselves, other times I apply paint directly onto the canvas and just mix the colours to see where it leads. I love contrasts of thick, vivid and luscious colours with pale and transparent layers. Mixing colours directly on the canvas gives me a new and unexpected result each time. Some paintings have many layers beneath, which gives the final work more complexity, especially when glimpses of previous layers are left. I also love collage, I never throw away any bit of painted paper that could just be perfect at some stage for a particular work.”
Kate credits her new studio-with-a-view as an essential ingredient in a regular arts practice. “It was a long time coming and I did my time in the shed in the backyard fighting for space with stored gear, but I wanted to prove to myself that I am serious about this first,” she says. “During the school term I try to follow a daily routine going over to the studio each day at about 10am until about lunch time, and back again for a couple of hours in the afternoon. That’s of course when I am at home; so that’s the other thing, not to get to get carried away and tie myself up with too many commitments that take me away from home in the first place. It can be a tricky balance to achieve.”
Kate considers herself “incredibly fortunate” to be part of the thriving artistic community at Goondiwindi, including her years curating the town’s popular annual Aspects Art group show, and participating in its burgeoning Lanescape public art project. “It’s not just the artists themselves, it’s all of the people who love art and want to see it in their town, who devote their tie and energy to the projects, that make things like Lanescape happen,” she says. “This year we produced three murals in Bowen Lane along with countless other quirky bits of art all up and down the lane.”
Kate believes it was the combination of professional artists, high school students and teachers, and local artists that were a major factor in the event’s success. “The Lanescape Twilight Festival was truly amazing and so well supported by the community we were blown away, a definite must on the calendar. Bowen Lane is now a very stimulating little detour off the main drag in Goondiwindi, which creates a vibrant energy about the place. It’s exciting to be in the planning stages for what will be created this year for Lanescape to grow the emerging art trail, which will make the town visually exciting for visitors and residents alike.”
Kate is also effusive about a change in attitudes to non-representational art. “I love that I live in an age where abstract art is much more appreciated and understood. It provides a certain enjoyment just for itself, its colours, its shapes and the brushstrokes, the artist has used to build it and the fact that it is no longer so important to represent recognisable person or place, but perhaps more important that the work provokes an emotion in the viewer and conveys a sense of the soul of the artist. I am excited to be part of many new opportunities this year and I can’t wait to get into the studio and splash a bit of paint around and get the magic happening.”
Kate’s first solo exhibition is at The Makers Shed, Glen Innes, until May 25th 2019.
