Jacqueline Fowler Biography
Born in England, 1945
Jacqueline is a dedicated tonal impressionist, possessing a refined and worshipful approach to the bright drama of light played out in a wide range of subjects from the figure, still life and florals, to the lush landscape. Born in England in 1945 Jacqueline has lived and worked in Australia for many years. To Jacqueline each painting is a challenge, a set of problems to be solved. She paints to try to capture the play of light and dark that first drew her eye to the subject. Jacqueline loves the drama of tonal paintings. A tonal impressionist who paints in oils and pastels, Jacqueline’s paintings embrace a wide range of subjects – figure, still life, florals and landscapes. Her wonderful classic, still life compositions are timeless. The illusion of glazed refraction from a Satsuma vase or a lidded pot. The light bouncing off a delicate petal. When engaging with landscape painting, the works are generally painted or sketched ‘en plein air’ with the weather and changing light only adding to the challenge. Jacqueline writes: "Starting to paint is starting to see. To analyse: I look at things in life as paintings, forever looking at the light touching an object. I started out as a physio, but my parents started to paint. I watched them as, later, my daughter watched me. She is an illustrator. I have been painting for more than 40 years now, full time for the last twenty or so. I was taught tonal painting by Graham Moore, a well respected painter and teacher who gave his students a very strong base in their work. He still sits on my shoulder at times, disapproving I’m sure. Then pastel and life drawing with Ming MacKay. But oil painting has won me over again, as it always does. Studio work is my main preference at the moment, focusing on floral still life; but there is also the joy of painting in the landscape in any weather, or sharing a model for life work. Many of the subjects I paint incorporate beautiful pieces of art, sculpture and prints. Many were collected in Japan when my family lived there and I was a small child, others have been collected by my husband who is an inveterate collector. The blossoms and flowers grow in our garden outside Melbourne. Altogether, a happy circumstance. Painting is a challenging, occasionally frustrating but thoughtful occupation, with the chance to listen to great music at the same time, and I wouldn’t wish to be doing anything else. I see the subject as a painting, making the light work for me, reflecting warmth or finding depth in the composition, giving cohesion, drawing the viewer’s eye along where the light touches, or just making colour the important element.” As with many great artists, especially in the still life genre, Jacqueline’s paintings are about light and shadow, colour and composition. It takes great talent and many years practise to be able to make a painting glow the way Jacqueline Fowler does.
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