We have been so lucky to work with the artists we do and feature their beautiful pieces in our each of our stores. One of the latest artists we have recently welcomed their pieces into our store is Ros Craig.
We recently chatted with Ros and found out about how she got into art and what inspires her gorgeous pieces.
What made you want to start painting seriously, and take professional art classes?
My family Christmas gifted me with a term’s art classes in Sydney just before Covid visited us.
Almost gave up!!
But thanks to the generous encouragement of my classmates, I didn’t.
Their advice was,
“Ros, go home and paint!!”
I had been thinking that the classes alone would deliver!
I went home, set up on the kitchen table …and haven’t stopped!!
I fell in love!!!!
’Serious painting’ began!
I have painted almost every day since.
And, amazingly, people wanted my work to be part of their life story.
My paintings can now be found all over Australia and the wider world.
I must add - painting, drawing has always been part of my life.
I remember painting a peach with my Mother on another kitchen table long before.
I studied art in my final years of school and at University.
A very full life ensued.
No time in those chapters for 'serious painting’!
“Trust the timing of your life.”
'You Can Lean on Me Too' | Original Artwork
Tell us about the inspiration behind your art pieces? What themes or moments in your life sparked your creations?
I am a lifelong gardener.
As was my Mother.
My grandfather.
My Great Grandfather!
What hope did I have not to be!
I can remember as a little girl being mesmerised by the textures of plants in a pocket of the garden in my home in Orange where I grew up.
So I know plants, trees and flowers.
I know them emotionally.
Painting foliage, petals, stamen, thorns, buds… they resonate with me, not just technically or intellectually but inside me.
Vases. Cups. Tins. Jugs… anything that can hold a twig or a sprig or a posey or a full-blown bouquet fascinate me too.
Especially vessels that have significance for me.
A gift. An heirloom. A cup from the kitchen drawer.
They are a part of the whole deal!
How does your process unfold from an idea to the finished artwork?
I paint each painting in one session.
Beginning to end standing at the easel in my Leura studio - I have shifted camp from the kitchen table!
I feel committed to the work in front of me and give myself to it on a particular day.
I couldn’t not finish it as I know I would feel differently about it and indeed I would be different myself the following day.
So, it’s a moment in time thing for me.
'All Is Very Well' | Original Artwork
Which of your collections have been the most meaningful to you so far, and why?
Are there certain pieces that hold a special place in your heart?
Space and Form are my thing.
I am drawn to simplicity of form and love negative space on the canvas.
Sometimes I go off paste but return to simplicity and the peace of it.
That’s perhaps where I feel the most connected.
But…
During the 2019 fires here on the Mountains I remember going to the canvas when I heard Mt Wilson had gone up.
There was no negative space that day. Or the days after!
So, the paints are part of my expression too. I recognise that and am grateful.
Looking ahead, what themes or directions are you excited to explore next? Is there anything special on the horizon for you?
In August I am hosting a Winter Painting Workshop here in Leura at The Everglades, a National Trust property.
I love these days of nourishment in an iconic Mountain’s Garden, with generous and trusting women, beautiful food and with the paints.
I love what it all does.
Painting is good for us. Emotionally. And physically. The research is in!
And to encourage people to explore it, is a great privilege.
Everyone can paint. It’s primal.
The tragedy is that some believe they can’t.
And, in September I will be having a solo Exhibition of my work.
At the Everglades Gallery.
Check out the National Trust NSW website.
I am thrilled!
It’s a rare chance to celebrate the Gift of this chapter in my life, with people I love and who have given so much of themselves to this time.
For me.
For the joy of it.
Joy in this absorbing, mysterious thing called painting.
“Grateful to burst” is often on my lips.
'We Are In This Together' | Original Artwork