One of the best things about the internet has been meeting like-minded people from all over the world, and sometimes being able to continue that friendship in "real life".
Chelsea lives in Albany, Western Australia. Albany is a country town on the coast of the southern-most tip of Western Australia, five hours south of Perth. It's where Australia used to be joined to Antarctica, so it's very windy and very beautiful with a rugged coastline.
If you want to see photographs of the butterfly and moth wing surface, as seen under the microscope, Chelsea has a really great collection of images on her Pinterest board here that she recommends taking a look at! https://www.pinterest.com/ChelseaHAArt/wing-scales-of-butterflies-and-moths-macro-photogr/
Seeing the real thing helps to put the paintings in context Alternatively, here is a short post on her blog with a few example photographs of the wing scales: http://chelseah-a.com/blog/2013/9/30/butterfly-wings-have-scales
Chelsea's Web Presence:
Business: www.ChelseaH-A.com
/ (26Seeds on Etsy)
My Website: www.ChelseaH-A.com
Blog: www.chelseah-a.com/blog/
Etsy Shop: www.26Seeds.Etsy.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/chelseaha_art/
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ChelseaHAArt/
Tell us a little about what you
create:
I paint
modern Australian environmental science and mindfulness inspired
watercolour, gouache and mixed-media paintings. One of my main ongoing
series 'Butterfly Wing-Scales', look like colourful modern abstracts but are
actually giant illustrations of the surface of butterfly and moth wings!
Another series called 'Crochet Web Mandalas' are mandalas derived from the
beautiful patterns I have long observed and admired in nature such as a spiders
web or the internal sections of a seashell, combined with my love of colour. My
'Balancing Stones' series are washy, inky looking watercolour paintings based
on stone balancing or cairns. These are just some of my main ongoing series I
am working with at the moment.
Where do you
do your creative work?
I have a table under a window
in the open plan living-dining-kitchen area of our house. This can also expand
to the kitchen table and large boards which I lean against the wall for the
really big paintings when I need to. But I try not to take over the house with
the artwork! I have a trolley with most of my art supplies on it. I have
a separate smaller study, with my computer, books and shelving.
But this is carpeted so I leave the painting to the living area which is
tiled!!! The dogs often sit with me. I also love to sit outside and sketch my
ideas in my sketchbook at the outdoor table whilst the boyfriend smokes a
cigar!
How did you get started?
Art and creativity was always encouraged by my Mum, Dad
and Grandmother (“Mimo”) growing up! When I was 14, I sold two pieces of art in
two different exhibitions, one to private collector and one to a gallery. I did
art as a subject in high school but with high school exams and then work,
university, travel and friends... I completely gave up art not long after my
early beginning! The only artistic thing I did from this point forward was
drawing diagrams of microscope slides for university!
Then in 2012, when I was 24 years old, I got very very
sick over the course of a few weeks. I had to have an MRI one of those days (I
guess they suspected a brain tumour). My favourite childhood art shop was over
the road from the medical imaging center, my boyfriend took me in there to
try to do something to lift my spirits. He bought me a small box of pastels
because I liked the colours!
In the MRI machine I was trying to keep positive, Id made
a commitment to myself to only focus on the inspiring and uplifting. No point
in worrying now, I could only make the most of things! I made a little game for
myself to run through all the inspiring and exciting moments in my life in my
minds eye. Because lets face it! I felt extremely sick, was deep down a little
afraid and was stuck inside a small, sterile and very loud space inside a
machine for a good hour or more, getting poked with needles! The first time I
saw a butterfly wing under the microscope came to mind and I recalled the
incredible awe, excitement and wonder at how magical life is when I saw the
vibrant colours and tiny scales on its surface! I held on to this image and the
feelings it gave me and that night recreated it as a reminder – with my new
pastels (that I thought I would never use), and my watercolour paints! My
intention was that every time I looked at this painting it would trigger this
memory and help to re-direct my brain to a positive state, consciously or
subconsciously. Reinforcing and strengthening these neural pathways for
positive focus (like when a path is well trodden through the bush), helping me
to feel good mentally/emotionally and in turn this releases good chemicals into
the body that help with healing and inflammation! It was my way to help myself
both physically and mentally!
At this time I was so unwell I could not walk properly or
do anything. I lost my new-ish job as an environmental hydrogeologist due to my
health. I was so fatigued and my concentration so impacted so I could not read
or get outdoors or do any of the things I would usually choose to do. So when I
was able to (not in hospital and able to sit up) I made art or looked at
pictures of art or beautiful things. I shared this work, and it started to
sell. This has been a long process but two and a half years later I am still
painting and slowly recovering!! As I get more energy back I am able to make
more art! The rest is history!!!
What did you study and where, or are
you self-taught?
I guess in art I am mostly self-taught. I have a Bachelor
of Environmental Science. I also studied a program in Science Communication at
The University of Western Australia. These studies obviously inform the subject
matter of my art because it is based on elements from science and nature, but
do not have anything to do with actually creating the artwork.
I did study art in high school, I found this helpful because I got to
test out a lot of different mediums over the four or five years which I might
not have known to try otherwise. Having confidence in knowing how to use the
materials definitely helped me to get started and express my ideas.
What motivates you?
Being so sick helped motivate me in the beginning. I could
not do anything else so there were no distractions!!! I was also painting to
create something to have a positive effect on my health and wellbeing.
Now I am sort of addicted to painting so I don't need much
to get me motivated!!! I have these ideas in my head of what I truly want to
create and I wont be satisfied until I can materialize these ideas.
The more I create the more I realize I can improve upon or
expand my ideas. So frustration and satisfaction in tandem sort of keep me
going, striving to do better and create what I have in my mind. I am also very motivated
by people telling me that when they look at my paintings they make them feel
incredible joy and wonder, that really makes me feel happy and want to create
more and get more work in front of people. I also have more ideas in the future
I want to explore and express via art – in relation to autism/aspergers and
environmental science – my interest in expressing ideas and the overlap between
art and science and communication also motivates me!
As well as all of this, the learning curve is also motivating me. The
whole process of creating and sharing artwork and ideas is teaching me skills
and concepts and creativity I hope to apply to other areas of my life and
future ventures - in art, science, entrepreneurship and communication!
Do you find drawing or sketching to
be an integral part of your process, why or why not?
Yes, definitely. I get so many ideas and I need to get them
down on paper and out of my head so I can stay focused on the project at hand!
Otherwise I would be too easily side tracked and would not finish anything! It
also helps me to see how interested I am in an idea. If I am bored after a few
sketches, well then there is no point in embarking on a huge painting!
Sketching in a notebook is also a good way to explore and test ideas and record
inspiration, or just unwind at the end of the day. Sketching is also important
for very practical applications such as mapping out patterns on butterfly wings
to identify common elements and designs for example. I sketch out a pattern
from a photograph to simplify things visually and then work from both the
photograph and my sketch!
Are there any particular artworks or
artists that surprise, inspire or repulse you?
I love so many artists. Some of the contemporary
Australian Aboriginal artists are awesome! Alesandro Ljubicic (www.alseandroljubicic.com) look him up! He
is an Australian artist – I love his art just for the pure joy of it, the
colour and texture! Some of the old impressionists really fascinate me. The way
many of Monet's paintings look indistinct from up close and then you stand back
and this incredibly detailed scene is suddenly apparent! So many artists though
I could really start to ramble so Ill leave it at that!
When and why did you decide to start
your own business?
It happened by accident. I just listed a few paintings on Etsy to share
them (with the encouragement of my boyfriend). I already had an account I’d set
up but never used so for convenience I used this! My paintings started to sell
so I created and listed some more. Simple as that!!! I've since sold work all
around the world now! I've learnt more and more over time and expanded my
goals. But I consider myself to just be getting started. Its all been a big
learning curve up until now.
What are you currently working on or
have recently completed?
I recently completed a really big Butterfly Wing-Scale
painting, its around 900mm x 1300mm, larger when framed. It has been cut out
and will be floated in a huge frame on a white background, like a massive
sample of a butterfly wing under the glass of a microscope slide. It is for
'The Great Southern Art Exhibition' here in Albany. This is the first
exhibition I am entering since I started my art almost two years ago so I am
excited and a little bit nervous.
1 comment:
Thank you Susan!!! I have shared the link to your blog on my blog!!!
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