“ArtQuotes Interview”

David Ladmore interviewed by Dion Archibald, February 2005

published on
www.artquotes.net

1. Why are you an artist David?

It was something I always wanted to do, but because of life’s circumstances I didn’t begin until I was forty. I’m self-taught learning from historical works found in library books. Being intensely motivated I felt certain that these great artists could teach me many things if I were to look carefully enough and listen to what they had to say.

2. Could you tell us some more about your paintings?

Often it is one main element that starts me off on a line of inquiry in a painting, usually something abstract such as the relationship between a couple of shapes or some reaction between colours or a mood I want to capture. This is the main subject of the painting and other elements are orchestrated accordingly. The painting has to work as a coherent whole. In my figurative work it might be the way one curve turns into another or the way the light falls on the form. My wife is my model and I never grow tired of painting her.

3. Your landscapes have a peaceful, spiritual quality about them. Is the subject really important to you, or is it the mood of the painting that fascinates you most?

I’ve had a love of landscape since childhood, a fascination with its expressive qualities and how it can evoke an emotional response from darkness and light. The subject is secondary to the arrangement of paint, the process and the expressiveness of the painting.

4. What artists have influenced you, and how?

Sargent, Whistler, Turner and many others. When I started painting I studied the techniques of the nineteenth century masters. I was moved by the depth, sophistication and sheer beauty of their vision.

5. What other interests do have (besides painting)?

None, I get fidgety unless I’m painting. My wife says I need a hobby.

6. What inspires you to paint and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

The inspiration arrives spontaneously and is different with every painting I am always striving to express some of the poetry I see in the things around me. I love the high from painting. The intense concentration and discovery, pushing my limits. Motivation isn’t a problem – it would be much harder not to paint. Self-discipline is fundamental to the creative process. It doesn’t stop me getting mad, but it keeps me going back immediately.

7. How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

I am unbelievably lucky in that my wife takes care of most things. She does the web site, all the administration and marketing and she feeds me.

8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A bit more confident, hopefully a little more free. But probably just as fanatical.

9. Could you talk about your latest series of paintings and what you are trying to achieve with them?

At the moment I am working on a series of larger landscapes in oil, mostly forest interiors. They begin with an idea, a color reaction or shapes, and then I paint intuitively as the image develops. It becomes an expression of beauty for its own sake.

10. What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

Look at hundreds of paintings by hundreds of artists and see what you find compelling emotionally. Study those paintings very carefully. Be true to yourself. Work slowly and carefully at first. Ignore stylistic concerns. Ignore “isms”. Don’t take lessons and forget the how-to books. Spend your money on paint, not lessons and just keep it real. Do it like you mean it. Paint only what moves you. Concentrate on one colour next to another, one shape next to another. It has to fundamentally work at this level before you can begin to say anything.