Meet the Artist
Felicity Rutherford
I am a self taught artist, and have painted on and off since about 2007. I have had more time to concentrate on being creative in the last couple of years, and this time spent working on growing my skills and experience has seen me expand and evolve into a more confident artist, and has also provided me the opportunity to be awarded with some prizes and recognition along the way.
I am extremely intuitive and playful when I create. I never have any preconceived idea of what a painting might be, or how it will get to its ‘finished’ point. I step through creating layers and layers - each layer being responded to by adding and removing - until the work gets to a point where I feel it is a cohesive, balanced and complete work that speaks its truth. I am quite experimental and happy to ‘give anything a go’ just to see if it might be a useful technique to include in my arsenal of random options.
The joy of a finished work for me is being able to look into a painting and see the previous layers - either as texture or as a hazy visual references. Each of these layers gives the painting a history and depth that I believe brings it a personality all of its own. I also love that my paintings can be seen in different contexts depending on the lived experiences and history a viewer brings with them. It is always wonderful to have someone tell me what the painting is saying to them, and how they perceive it - as very often it is not how I have seen it - and hearing their perception broadens my appreciation of the work. I always enjoy hearing their interpretations and having these interactions with a viewer.
Personally, I am a fairly quiet, reserved and modest person. I have confidence in myself, but am not one to ‘blast it from the rooftops’. My aim is always to be the best version of myself, and to boost other people around me to have confidence in themselves and believe in their self worth as the individual that they are.
