Shirley Trevena RI was recently published in the May edition of The Artist magazine. In the article Shirley reveals how drawing cartoons has always been part of her life and how drawing cartoons of everyday events helped her to loosen up her watercolour paintings. Here is an excerpt:
The excitement of having pencils and paper for drawing has been with me since I was a child. I can remember sitting in my grandparents’ kitchen in Brixton drawing with a chunky pencil onto a small line notebook that my grandfather had found for me in the room he used for making wooden toys for his grandchildren. Producing cartoons really took hold of me when we went to live in France. It proved to be a wonderful adventure experiencing all the different seasons and living in a large house in the middle of a forest in the Dordogne. From the day we arrived in August 2007 to our leaving in November 2009 I drew illustrative cartoons every single day. Breakfast first, and then I would draw some of the crazy things that had happened the day before. I knew that by doing these drawings every day I was getting looser and more adventurous with my marks. At the same time I was doing these cartoons I decided to try my hand at abstract painting. That truly was loosening me up with broad strokes, big paper and mixed media. The cartoon work had somehow released me from my need to paint tight compositions and this was a good time to experiment.
Shirley will be exhibiting at the Barn Gallery, Patchings Art Centre, Shirley Trevena and Friends from 23 March to 3 May 2019 https://www.patchingsartcentre.co.uk .
‘Shirley Trevena RI Cartoons’, £5 +P&P and her other books, DVDs and prints are available from her website www.shirleytrevena.com .
