Profile: Jack Frame
Jack Frame is one of the artists taking part in the Scottish Opera Art Fair 2010. We've asked some of the artists involved to answer a few questions about their work and being involved with Scottish Opera. Jack's answers are below. You can see more on the main Art Fair page.
Cherry Blossom
(To be auctioned on 6 October)
What was it that appealed to you about taking part in The Scottish Opera Art Fair?
The opportunity to exhibit work to people who are involved with opera and presumably interested in beauty whether this is conveyed on the stage or on the canvas. I feel the two are inherently linked.
Why did you choose to donate that particular piece? Is it typical of your style of art?
It is part of a series of paintings which attempt to document a day of observational painting. The cherry blossom represents a charged subject and I was particularly interested in trying to paint these trees at the point when the blossom was beginning to fall to the ground. This is a subject that I continually return to in a cyclical way.
What is your favourite medium and what subject matter are you particularly drawn to?
I do use gouache and acrylic paint on occasion. Marker pen and Biro for drawing alongside graphite, I make a lot of prints in the traditional ways Lithography, Silkscreen and etching, but Oil paint is without doubt my favourite.
I am interested in the structure of Trees, how they are very good at conveying a sense of time pictorially. They are so intertwined with our own emotional landscape that they can be used to transmit aspects of the human condition.
How would you describe your art to someone who was seeing it for the first time?
I think if you could say it with words there would be no need for painting. The subtlety and slight variation in painting makes everything different and infinitely various. But if I was forced I would like to describe my painting of trees as portraits.
Which other artist/artists inspire you?
There are so many that the list would be endless. I think currently I’m probably most inspired by music both contemporary and classical. Re-visiting John Taveners protecting vale and Grinderman. I’m also looking a photographs by Bernd and Hilla Becher.
How do you go about creating your artwork? Do you listen to opera while you work?!
Walk to the studio, Coffee. I like to listen to things while I paint. At the moment I listen to a lot of films, I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched one of them but I can recite huge portions of them. I do also occasionally listen to opera music Wagner, Stravinsky and most recently Pergolesi Stabat Mater.
Where might our audiences have seen your work before?
Galleries and Art fairs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. I’ve appeared on a BBC 2 Documentary called ‘Glasgow Boys’. Publications such as Scottish Homes and Interiors and The Herald Scotland Magazine. Even in the background of TV Show ‘Come Dine With Me’.
Have you always been a professional artist?
Yes
What is the best/worst thing about being an artist?
Best. Freedom
Worst. Ruts
