| |
 |
|
High seas, high energy
I can only really paint when I am in ‘high energy’; some days I go into the studio and it just does not happen. In the early days as an artist I would resist the bad feelings and go through the angst; but now I know when I am in the flow and can keep my energy high…
Words by • David Rose-Massom
This month’s featured artist is a mother and grandmother with a surprising ability to paint the power and fury of the sea. Many artists can produce realistic seascapes, but Jean Dayton produces images of white hulled yachts thrusting their way through sea spray and paintings of powerful seas that drive forward relentlessly. It was this portrayal of the sea’s strength that bought her to the attention of Solent Life.
Jean is very much into meditation and the spiritual side of the artist. “I keep my energy high by walking in nature and that can be a walk in the woods or a walk along the seashore.” She said. “Each gives me a different energy, and to me that energy is everything. I find it meditative and because I have to be creative in everything I do, whether that is in my painting or just cooking dinner, I have to stay passionate about what I do, it heightens my feelings and ultimately I paint from those feelings.”
Her images come from both photographs and the mental images she collects when out walking and these are combined to create the end product. “I mainly work on a commission basis now and I have a big job at the moment from a couple in Dublin who want a large painting for their new home.” Jean explained. “They had an idea of what they wanted from one of my existing paintings with the Isle of Wight in the background but because of where they live they want it set in Dublin Bay. I have no need to visit the bay but I must see plenty of photographs so that I can get a feel for the location.”
Jean has been a full-time artist for around seven years. “I have always been creative and as a youngster all I wanted to do was go to Art College, but when I finally got there it only lasted for six months.” She admitted laughing gently with embarrassment.
“I loved the art side of being there but hated the academia that went with it."
“I would have been 17 at the time and from there I went into ‘proper’ jobs working in offices and in admin then within a few years I gave birth to my daughter Gemma, which obviously changed my life but it helped me to grow and form as a person; I loved being a mum, and three years later my son Ben came along.”
Jean admitted to now being a grandmother but there is still a youthfulness and freshness, almost innocence, about her.
“Work has mostly been in office admin but in my last job all I did was dream about becoming an artist.” The passion and desire was back in her voice. “I was working as an artist but overlapping with the day job, but as I become more successful it was not enough to be a part-time artist; so I had to make a decision! But, that decision was a really easy one to take and the transition from everyday life to being an artist was to get a taste of freedom.”
“The spiritual side of what I do has been around since my teens and I have always been interested in self-development.” She continued. “I am sensitive to everyone and everything around me and that can be a little overwhelming at first and originally it felt like a weakness but now I see it as very much a strength; in fact it is my greatest strength.
“The energy I get from nature and the world around me has helped me grow as an artist and as a person.” Did the spiritual side feed the art or vice versa? “The art and the spiritual side is a two-way thing and it’s about being true to your self; the energy I feel, and talk about, can be forceful or it can be calm. It is a little like music, sometimes I am in the mood for something like Gregorian chants or it could be Ibiza dance music; it’s about freedom to express mood and to express myself!
“There has to be a balance in all we do in life, and so, especially with my background in admin, I enjoy promoting myself, marketing my work and working on my website. I enjoy being a commercial artist as it is a constant flow of work, I love my pictures and often name them, but then I am happy to let them go to their new homes. There must be 300 pieces of work now hanging in people’s homes and that is a really nice feeling."
“I do like to meet with my clients and pick up on their feelings but I also need to know about the space where the work will hang; that is important. Then the work begins with me sketching to get the right composition and then getting the go-ahead from the client. Each commission really is a bespoke piece of work. Each piece takes some three or four sittings and each sitting is two or three hours long. In the end my paintings have a little bit of me in them and a little bit of the client.”
So, what does the future hold for Jean Dayton? “I really want to get more work out there, and strangely that is not just about being seen but about getting to work more and being creative everyday, that is part of keeping my energy high.
“The meditation side of my work, and just painting gets me in a meditative state, is very important. With some of my abstract work I have even begun to add crystals to the paints and resins and this is giving me more ideas about expanding my art and expanding myself as an artist. My meditation takes me deeper into the flow of my work. I cannot separate the person from the art as they are very much one and the same!”
To see more of Jean G Dayton’s work go to www.jeangdayton.com and for commission details email her on jean@jeangdayton.com
Some of Jean’s work can also be seen at the White Dog Gallery in Lee-on-the-Solent.
|
|
|
|
