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Welcome to our Artist of the Month feature for March, and congratulations to Victoria Stanway for being our selected artist.
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Hi Victoria - can you tell us a little about yourself, and how you got started as an artist?
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As a child I always loved painting and drawing but never knew what to do with my ability. I went to art school (as it was the only subject I excelled at), and gained distinctions in all units, but still felt directionless and detatched from the creative process. In retrospect, I realised that I didn't really know who I was and how to use my artistic ability to find out. So I eventually decided to head off in a different direction, choosing to study film at degree level.
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After having various soul destroying jobs (to pay off the student debts), I realised that the world of work was never going to give me any personal gratification and I should try and find that elsewhere. I enrolled on some life drawing classes and decided to start painting ideas that were lingering around in my head. So I picked up my paint brushes again and began to experiment. It had taken me all those years to understand who I was and what I wanted in my life. I found that the work came flooding out. This is where my main body of work Landscapes of the Mind was started.
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What are you favourite subjects to paint?
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I love to paint portraits but at the moment my Landscapes of the Mind series of paintings are the most rewarding and simultaneously challenging work. The only reference material is from my imagination. Starting as vague doodles I try and evoke feelings and memories of where I grew up, in a dying Lancashire milltown. Geographically developed in a basin, the rows of 'back to back' terraced houses were built on the steep hills and troughs, squeezing as many as they could into the available space. The claustrophobic space of the terraces, strange things lurking in the cobbled back streets, contrasted with the luminous and expansive countryside I would escape to are the themes I try to capture in my paintings.
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Do you have any advice for aspiring artists, or for those new to art?
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Experiment with different media, enrol on some art classes, join your local art groups. Go to as many different exhibitions as you possible can. But crucially I feel that just getting on and doing, rather than thinking about it has worked for me.
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What do you hope people see in your work?
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I would like to think that people see something unique and interesting, that would make them stop and look at it for while and maybe think about what it could be about.
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Who are your favourite artists or photographers, and are there any works in particular which have inspired you?
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That's hard, there are so many to choose from. At the moment I'm looking at Pieter Bruegel the Elder, as he was one of the first western painters to paint a landscape for it's own sake, rather than for historic or religious backdrop, I love his Tower of Babel painting.
Also I've got to mention Picasso, he has had the biggest impact on me. His legacy is unique and he was a genuis. Geurnica for example, still has as much resonance today as it did when it was first unveiled.
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What painting, photograph or work of art do you wish you had produced?
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Richard Billingham's candid photography of his family. These images depict his family 'warts and all', but they somehow transcend the sqaulor he records, and you're left with a very touching account of a family dealing with poverty and depravation.
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Apart from your portfolio at artfair365.co.uk, how do you promote your work - are you a member of any societies, and do you have any exhibitions planned?
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I have my own website www.victoriastanwayart.com, and also feature on various other online galleries. I am a member of SAA, and also The Wheel, (Banbury's Mill Art's Centre artist network group)
I try and exhibit as much as I can. I have just had two pieces of work in The Art2 exhibition at Banbury Museum, one of which was shortlisted for the best work prize.
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From your own portfolio, which are your favourite 3 artworks?
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No Way Out : my first ever painting in my landscape of the mind series of work will always be of particular significance. It started from a doodle on a post-it note I'd drawn whilst bored at work, at from it an entire theme and style began.
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Stigma : This is a massive pastel self portrait, I think I've managed to capture myself well in this piece. It was shortlist for the Art2 prize
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Insignificance : This is the most recent of my Landscape of the Mind series of works. I think it is a turning point leading me onto my next group of paintings which are stylistically different.
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Click here to view Victoria's portfolio.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for February - Patrick Palmer.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for January - Caren Thompson.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for December - Simon Wild.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for November - Sally Bassett.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for October - Bill Jackson.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for September - Maureen Greenwood.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for August - Cinzia Castellano.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for July - John Bird.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for June - Anthony Caruana.
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Click here to view our Artist of the Month for May - Clem Spencer.
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