For the change edition, this artist feature is an interesting exploration into the creative process of an artist, hopefully getting readers into the mindset of not losing the arts.
When I started studying journalism, I didn’t quite know what field I would be setting out to make my speciality.
And to be honest, I still don’t.
That being said, I have managed to grow my niche in the art world, speaking to artists about their creative process, what got them there and how they convey this in their work.
To me, a man who can hardly draw a bath, it is absolutely fascinating.
The most recent artist I’ve spoken to is Susan Kirkland, who is based in Troon, South Ayrshire.
Over coffee, Susan took me through her process and how her art has been a constant companion with her throughout her life, through every high and low.
Naturally my first port of call was to ask where Susan’s ideas come from.
“I just sit and look at a blank canvas off and on for quite a while and eventually I’ll start to see a form.
“It’s hard to explain, it kind of appears on the canvas, a brief outline or an idea of what the figure is going to be doing.
“It’s always figurative, I’m really inspired with figurative work.
“I love exaggerating limbs and bones and sinews and nails and joints.
“I’ve never painted anything true to life, art to me is exploring shape and form and size and I just find the human body amazing.”
Susan gets fully invested in her work, and will often find herself getting lost in the canvas.
“Once the image is there, it’s not going to be anything else, so I just get a bit of charcoal or a bit of chalk and just etch it in.
“And from there it just literally grows arms and legs!
“I just love it; I get totally absorbed; I can be there for six hours just like that.”
A snap of her fingers being the key action in rounding out her point.
It’s clear to see that Susan has a deep relationship with her art and I was curious to find out the origin.
“I started off designing clothes, I went to fashion college a long time ago so that’s where it started.
“I started doing sketches of models wearing clothes that I’d designed.
“So, it kind of started from that, actually putting things down on paper.”
Susan’s work generally explores the human body and the passion behind her mindset gave me a whole new perspective on the subject.
“I love feet and hands; I love the contours, the stories that are in somebody’s hands!
“There’s a New York photographer who photographs people having a hard time on the streets of New York, with drugs and homelessness, it’s quite harrowing work.
“And there was an older lady whose hands were old and tired and dirty, but there was so much strength in them!
“It makes you think, where have those hands been, what have they experienced and had to deal with; what have they touched and not been able to touch.
“A body with limbs, joints, bones and flesh is what we’re housed in in this life and it tells a story.
“Sometimes that can be quite a powerful story or quite a harrowing story and I just love to explore that.”
As Susan has gotten more into art, her work has gotten physically bigger, almost as if the paintings are trying to break free from the canvas.
“It started small, and then it just grew and grew and grew, and now I can’t work small.
“When I paint a figure, it’s almost as if the canvas can’t contain it.
“I love the idea that it makes it more dynamic, because it looks as though the person is trying to get out of the painting.
“To me it makes it more alive!”
Susan’s personal life and experiences play a big part in how her art comes out on the canvas.
“It’s so personal, because what I do reflects where I am.
“I started painting again not long ago and its odd, because I don’t have that total absorption anymore, but it’s coming back and that’s the point I want to get back to.
“I started doing a piece not long ago and I was really enjoying it, but I was thinking, can I still do this? Is it still there?
“But it is, I’ll get there with it.”
Susan want’s her art to be what people make of it and has a wonderfully unique take on people’s reactions to it.
“When I’ve had a big piece on the wall, and somebody’s said ‘Oh… I don’t know if I like that’.
“I love that!
“Because it’s a powerful response and that means it’s speaking to them, and I love that.”
As many artists would agree, the emotional response from people is the most important to Susan when it comes to people looking at her work because, like many of us in creative fields, personal emotion is a key part of what goes into making our work, well, work.
“For me, it’s an absolute outlet
“From having challenging times or struggling mentally, I just switch off from everything.
“And I think sometimes that can be reflected in your work.
“With creativity, there seems to come mental health challenges.
“For me it’s been a real journey through mental health and working.
“I’ve been in difficult places and dark places, and then I’ve been in brilliant places and my arts always been there.
“It’s always been in the background, and it’s been something that I’ve always come back to, and it’s made me feel alive again!”
Unfortunately, there’s only so much space in this magazine so I’ve merely been able to scratch the surface of my interview with Susan Kirkland.
A truly empathetic creative process highlighted by genuine curiosity is what makes Susan’s art great.
She does not have any exhibitions on right now for you to check out in the flesh, but she does stay active on Instagram @sioux_artwork so be sure to check her out there.
