Jackie Norman - Colourful Semi-Impressionist Artist
BACKGROUND AND WORK LIFE I originally came from London from a large wider family on both sides and had lots of friends in the street. As a child I learned to draw primarily from colour/trace books and, even at that early age, I was fascinated by perspective, for example, that everything further away was small and got bigger as it came towards you. I remember getting my first water colour box at the age of 9 - our school in London encouraged art, music, drama and, in fact, all the arts. I moved to Slough in 1966 with my immediate family but really missed them. I had a secondary school education before training at college. I am greatly inspired by the Impressionists and especially Toulouse Lautrec. Originally I had a commercial working background - but remember it being an unfulfilling for me.
I was always painting and drawing as a hobbyist and took classes in the evening in drawing/painting. I travelled to Jersey and eventually, Israel, which changed my life as it was then I became a Christian, which was a turning point. In the 1980's I went to Art School at 28 to Berkshire College of Art and Design. where I learned a lot about illustration, drawing techniques, painting, calligraphy, printing, illustration and typography. I worked in design offices and as an in-house designer. However, at that time, due to recession, I had to take other work.
in 1990 while temping at the local college, I met and married my husband Dave, a fellow artist and we have two children. We both joined Slough Art Society where we networked with other artists and exhibited at various places. Also I studied web-design - Dreamweaver II, Frontpage and Flash plus RSA CLAIT. I worked in St Mary's School for 18 years supporting children with their learning, especially SEN children on a 1-1 basis but during those years I was designing display boards, backdrops for plays, productions, stage make-up and plays plus greatly used in art lessons, helping children draw.. In addition, I studied NVQ in supporting teachers plus accredited training. I have travelled to France, Spain, Budapest, Prague, Malta, Amsterdam, Romania and the USA.
ART EXHIBITIONS I paint in a wide variety of materials including acrylics, oils, watercolour and pastels. plus encaustic (hot wax), marbling, journaling and collage.
Exhibitions:
Art in the Street, Maidenhead for 5 years running
Herschel Park - also taught in Art workshops
Burnham Library
Uxbridge Library
The Curve, Slough
En Plein Air, Windsor for around 5 years
Pintar Rapido, London - also plein air.
Cookham Elizabeth House
Maidenhead Rendezvous Cafe
Shortly to exhibit at Windsor The Old Court Court - 15th October to 24th October.
Illustrations for a children's book
CURRENTLY After taking early retirement in December 2018 I really started to rekindle my painting and drawing skills. I have been studying an art mentoring course, which is Created to Thrive and the Experience Course from Matt Tommey, which has been a transformational journey. I have learned to cultivate my mind, my heart, my art, my branding and marketing and eventually my business and life skills. Experimenting with different techniques and processes have been part of this as I rekindled my encaustic art skills, marbling and charcoal drawing. I had travelled to Croatia earlier in 2019 and also the United States on a conference there in Asheville and have met and communicated with an amazing group of people who work in a range of artistic and creative skills. Since Lockdown I really focused a lot on painting.
I am a versatile artist who paints in a semi-impressionist style, who is inspired to create paintings that are full of intriguing stories and usually in bright vibrant colours. I use a range of materials, however acrylics predominate. There are also pen/ink drawings, pastels, watercolour and also encaustic, which is hot wax. I like to experiment and have done some marbling and wallpapers. I am dedicated to providing the very best in terms of quality. I spend time getting both the composition, design and construction right. There are a wide contrast of different genres and interests for people but where possible, every picture tells a a unique story. I aim to challenge and stimulate the viewer and hope to help you in any way I can. Does the piece give you an emotional connection or provide a memory for you, different to the way a photograph does? Does the colour stimulate your senses? Is it conceptual and thought-provoking for you?
Rugged Seascapes and Landscapes Paintings My seascapes and landscapes paintings are sunsets, icy mountains, rocky scenes and parks around me which are full of bright colours in a semi-impressionist style. A unique memory can be provided for you please contact me for further details. I use sponges, fan brushes and pallet knives to create texture in the rocks, mountains, trunks of trees and features of the paintings.
Cityscapes The cityscapes are London scenes on canvas, Canterbury buskers, scenes of tango and salsa scenes and cities with stunning architecture, buildings, intriguing history with groups of people.
Portraits and People I have painted a double portrait of the queen, my self portrait and a picture of my brother and partner. However, I have painted Mother Theresa, David Bowie, Humphrey Bogart, Chris Barber and drawn my mother. I can provide commissions for portraits if you require them.
Christian-themed Paintings Biblical crowd scenes feature in these paintings which take on a story with a moral at the end and a story generator. Jesus' parables that he told so perfectly - the Parable of the Sower, Consider the Flowers (as above), the True Vine and the biblical stories of Jonah and the Whale, the Woman with the Alabaster Jar plus the psalms and also painting the Holy Spirit in Holy Fire and lots more. Again, if any of these appeal to you or you require a commission please see contact page below.
Parks, Rivers and Recreation A Punch and Judy show, beautiful gardens in green parks, Canterbury River scenery and river scenes on the way to Runnymede are depicted, painted semi-impressionist style in these collections of acrylic paintings and prints.
Animals, Insects and Nature Imagine, your pet painted for you with suitable background images, this can be done to your liking. Pen/ink drawings of animals, brightly coloured bird or fish or animals, peacocks, bees or any other animal you would like drawn and painted.
Gardens, Trees and Florals From brightly coloured exotic flowers to rustic trees and gardens and parks infused with light techniques and rustic, textured trees, brightly coloured blossoms, rich greenery of the garden and array of flowers, you will find here in this category.
Still Life, Fruit and Cupcakes Colourful fresh bowls of delicious fruit, good enough to eat, semi-impressionist style of still life with pots, jars and fruit plus the lilac cupcakes offset against pretty butterflies.
Crowd Scenes, Pubs and Meeting Places Argentinian dancers watched by inquisitive onlookers, large paintings of pubs, weddings, celebrations and crowded tube trains plus buskers in Canterbury plus the exciting Camden High Street scenes are all in this category, all of which are good for gifts for people, memories to keep and treasure. All painted in the semi-impressionist style.
Encaustic and Marbling Encaustic art is hot wax - a technique painted with crayons that are melted on a small hot iron and then applied to card to design a range of abstract patterns and texture. Marbling techniques were done as a purely experimental technique but produced a wealth of prints and designs in bright colours.
Prints If you would like a print done of any of the pictures in the gallery, you could download them. Please let me know which one you would like.
For all these please see the Gallery page or contact me should you require a commission done. Go to the Shop page for prices should you wish to buy.
See Jackie's Blog for articles I have written about painting, about art, about life and my story. See the range of techniques I have used in her page and how they are used.