Artist Spotlight: Louise Dear

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Louise Dear is a contemporary artist with a unique view of the art world. The Art Collector asked her several questions about her work ethos and the concepts behind her art.

Tell us about your ‘urgent need to create’. Do you think this elan vital is something that is missing from the art world?

I love painting like I love to eat or swim or drink delicious wine. I ache for it when I am away and yearn to get back into the studio and smell the oils, feel the brush in my hand and make my marks. I love it with an intense passion and I do believe this is something you can see, or even feel in a work of art. Not all art has this yet it is those that do that succeed, that shine through. This is certainly not a business you can fake.

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With the explosion of contemporary art in the art world, do you think there is still an appreciation for works that are underpinned by skill?

Yes. But I also think many people are being hoodwinked by a lot of nonsense and sold over-seen merchandise. Diamond dust encrusted Marilyn’s galore and recycled imagery abound. Illustrators and graphic artists seem to have jumped on the bandwagon and lots of people are selling a quick fix wall covering. But that’s OK. There’s enough room for us all and genuine art lovers, those who do appreciate the skill learned through years of application, will route us out eventually.

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Your works often use a variety of mediums. Is texture a focal point in your works? How does is it influence them?

Yes, texture and layering are the foundations of my works. As people we are multi-layered and this is something I try to portray in my works. I love throwing the paint randomly, oils and water based mediums and watching them squirm and disperse. This chaos is then overplayed with stripes, delicious oils rubbed in or quilt creams that seep into the cracks and fissures. The stripes conform and order the chaos, calming  our eye and allowing it to rest and follow the contours. The image now is overplayed and sometimes the flowers are painted in a simple graphic style complimenting and contrasting with the chaos below. Some of these textures seep through constantly allowing the viewer something new to experience in the one painting.
Can you tell us more about your commissions and in particular the Alfa Romeo wrap?

The Alfa Romeo was a great project as I was able to create a whole body of work around a simple brief. The exhibition and the wrapped car then toured the country which brought my work to the attention of a much greater audience. Alfa had just launched a new echo friendly model called the MiTo. This car was aimed at the young aspiring city woman and that was the simple brief. I based the works on my 20 year old daughter, my muse, and the signature piece was titled ‘Because I Can’ … because she can.

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What has been your favourite project to date and why?

I very much live in the present, in the now. So the project I am working on is always my favourite otherwise I simply wouldn’t be able to continue with it. I have just completed my largest commission to date. A huge painting called KissKissBaBam which is almost 5 meters tall and is just being installed at a new restaurant at Victoria, visible right on Buckingham Palace Road.

I’m now beginning work on the complete opposite, tiny little original portraits, created from selfies that I’ve been sent. This project  #loveyourselfie has gone down a storm on social media with literally hundreds of my followers sending me their gorgeous selfies. to be made into a unique ‘work of art’.
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I’ve got several exciting projects in the pipeline for the new year, one with a record label, working with a make up companies new branding, a large commission in the states and I’m also talking with a licensing agent. It’s all go and I’m loving all the attention.

What advice would you give to emerging artists (and those who do not currently have a commercial platform)?

It’s a tough would and you’ve got to put in the hours. If you live, breath and eat art, if you dream your creations then go for it. But if you’d rather be doing something else then go do it. It’s not a business for the faint hearted or those too sensitive to take the
knocks. It’s full of peaks and troughs, superb highs and extreme lows. But if you’ve got what it takes and can handle the pace then the rewards are supreme.

Follow Louise Dear’s art journey here: http://www.louisedear.com/
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