Fine Art – Sally Arnold

Written by QueenB on February 23, 2012. Posted in Art.

Sally Arnold (Dipl. Fine Art, M.A.)
Member: Cercle Artistique Luxembourg (CAL) + Botanical Artist’s Association of South Africa (BAASA)

I was born in a lovely region of South Africa – at the foot of the verdant Amathola Mountains in the Eastern Cape. Growing up there and on farms across the Great Karoo kept me close to nature and its beauties. Our garden was a source of pleasure and play, and I was fascinated by butterflies and bumblebees landing on snapdragons and other bright blossoms in search of nectar. Beyond our garden oasis, a semi-arid expanse of low scrub stretched for miles under an infinite, crystalline blue sky. Nature is my most patient teacher.

Over the decades, from art school in Cape Town, Antwerp and while living all over Europe, I’ve portrayed and sculpted flowers – sometimes as ornamentally patterned paintings, lately in handwoven mohair. Paintings vary from 120 x 120 cm to 30 x 30 cm. My current focus is on small indigenous flowers from South Africa. Using mainly photographs (my own and others) I portray them in a detailed, layered oil glaze technique employing only natural ingredients, inspired by Redouté’s fresh 19th century watercolours. Given humans’ current tendencies towards nature, drawing attention to these exquisite symbols of our own, transient, presence on earth in this moment becomes more compelling than ever.

I’ll be focusing on Alpine spring flowers in watercolour technique from mid-April to mid-June during a Combaz7 Artist residency at Cité-Joie, Crans Montana (CH) – Working title: *bhlo- blossom – flourish

QueenB!……..Abuzzing off

Studio (ZA): 15A New Street
Prince Albert 6930
South Africa
T/F. +27 23 541 10 46
Mob.+27 82 710 59 09

www.artistcottages.com
www.sallyarnold.com
www.sudafricana.com