Featured Artist Deborah Tilby

With a focus on light and shadow, texture and soft color, artist Deborah Tilby captures the beauty of the landscape in her oil paintings. Enjoy more of her art by visiting her website.

 

 

It was my all-consuming love for horses in my mid-teens that was the beginning of my passion for drawing and, later, for painting. I spent many, many hours drawing horses. I realized how much I enjoyed the process and progressed to drawing everything in sight—my hands and feet, furniture, children’s toys, bits of saddlery and old tools and farm equipment. Most of these were done in pencil, but I also loved using a wooden pen with nibs and bottle of ink.

 

 

A school assignment to paint a small watercolour got me hooked on that medium. This captivated me for the next twenty-five years. I still love watercolour but most of my work is now in oil, a medium that I think is wonderful and a joy to work with.

 

 

I paint in the studio more than outdoors, but I think both are important. Working outdoors and really learning to “see” is so valuable. I know my studio work benefits from these observations.

 

 

It is light and shadow that I am especially interested in as well as subtle colour and soft neutrals. I particularly love painting winter and spring landscapes with their beautiful violets, grey blues and soft greens.

 

 

I have been told that the term that best fits my work is Contemporary Impressionism and I quite like it. It is representational, but not realism.

 

 

My aim is for looseness but my love of texture pulls me towards more detail. The result is a combination of the two—areas of thin washes in combination with thicker, loosely applied paint and knife work along with some textural detailing.

 

 

I’ve heard this described as “controlled looseness” although I’m not sure I have achieved it yet. It is something I constantly strive towards.

 

 

I’m acutely aware of what I am aiming for and am always seeking to learn more, understand more, and to observe more. This can be frustrating at times but I feel that periods of struggle are necessary for growth.

 

 

If I had more time and didn’t have the interruptions of household chores, the inevitable marketing stuff, framing and running around doing various errands, I would indulge my love of printmaking and sculpture. I’ve done very little of either, but both really fascinate me. I’d also love to get working on some watercolours again. It was my first love and, much as I love oil, I miss it.

 

 

I am passionate about painting—I rarely go a day without it and find it endlessly fascinating.

 

Artist Deborah Tilby invites you to follow her on Facebook  and Instagram 

 

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