This month dot-art speaks to artist Dave Rayward.
His works are often emotional and psychological reactions to things glimpsed out of ‘ commonplace reality’.
A ‘poetic’ impulse which might otherwise be worked up into a poem or a piece of prose. He also he uses texts from classical literature, verses of poetry and regular observation of the natural world for his subject matter.
Can you describe your style of art?
It’s difficult because it’s slightly fluid, so sometimes leaning towards impressionistic, sometimes expressionist. It depends on what kind of idea I’m trying to transmit.
Where I’m trying to incorporate some kind of narrative or novel thought, it leans towards expressionistic, abstract even. Without that narrative, more conventional as it were, then less so.
Which medium do you work with and what do you like about it specifically?
I use oil paint and sometimes embellish a piece with soft pastel or spray paint. I started off with acrylic and gouache which were fine. Using oils, I found, was a completely different experience of working with something alive and much more versatile.
Can you talk us through your process? Do you begin with a sketch, or do you just go straight in? How long do you spend on one piece? How do you know when it is finished?
I read a comment from a famous actress recently who said that when acting, she felt it was the only time she could really move freely. I liked that idea. If an idea for a work is abstract in this sense, to begin trying to express it visually, I would make pencil sketches searching for something symbolic, shapes, abstractions, that, like finding the right word for a line of poetry, encapsulated that thought.
If I’m semi-satisfied up to that point, I’ll try to start painting and incorporating that idea around a stylised figure on the canvas or board. I take phone camera photos and print them out with a photocopier at each stage of the painting. I find that this gives me an objective view of it as I go along. I usually spend about a week on each piece. I’m satisfied when I know I can’t do anything more to improve it.
When did you begin your career in art?
Only about five years ago.
Who or what inspires your art?
In art, the Usual Suspects; Bacon, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Blake, Macke, the ‘Blue Horse Brigade’ as someone I know called them. The Fauvists. Klee. Searching the internet as well but not to poach images, to grab patterns of colour in often random things.
Why is art and creativity important to you?
It brings me joy, and I see it as a form of work that incorporates labour as well as individual thought and imagination moving together.
What do you gain from being a member with dot-art?
A carefully curated personal web page and the feeling of being a part of a community of artists with shared values.
What does it mean to be an artist in the Liverpool City Region?
The heritage of art and music and poetry is embedded deeply within everyone who lives here, and is kept and recorded in the wilder places and the stonework of the city. That’s how I think of it.
What are you working on at the moment?
Just finishing a large, probably too large for me ( it’s difficult to manoeuvre with my arthritis ) semi-abstract canvas. Then I’m going to do a series based on the inner feelings of actors and how this might be transmitted visually.
What was the best advice given to you as an artist?
I think Picasso said to someone “ I can’t give you any advice. You have to work it all out on your own”
That’s what I’ve done so far. I’ve worked it out on my own.
Discover more of Dave Rayward’s work on our online shop!