Alexandra Lavizzari FEATURED ARTIST OF THE MONTH
“On the Somerset levels” Soft pastel painting
“What motivates you to create?“
I think what inspires me, put simply, it is the beauty of rural and coastal Britain. When I arrived in the UK in 2008 I had more or less given up on painting and concentrated on my career as a writer (I write and publish novels and literary essays in German). On my first extended walks in the English countryside, I felt I couldn’t just describe the landscape in words but had to try a more direct means of expression and so I turned to painting again, which I had abandoned in my late twenties when I went to live in Asia.
The wild cliffs of North Devon and Cornwall and the gentle Somerset countryside are still a great inspiration for me, but I also love to experiment and therefore I keep exploring new themes and ways of creating artwork such as collages with natural ingredients, digital work, and in general mixing various mediums together. Because of this I think I don’t have a definite style which I apply to all my art, but have instead developped a range of very different styles according to the medium and the subject and, last but not least, according to my own mood.
“Abstract of White” Limited edition Giclee print.
“In your work ‘Abstract White’ you use digital techniques to create the final piece. Can you tell us more about this process and the benefits of using digital methods in your creative practice? “
Photography is another art form which I love experimenting with. As is the case with ‘Abstract White’ I sometimes paint spontaneous abstract shapes and patterns with acrylics in a limited colour range, then I take a closeup photograph of it and use a computer program to tweek the shapes and define the edges and lines more clearly. The infinite possibilities of digital manipulation are fascinating and I find great satisfaction in creating an interesting and pleasing abstract from an original painting with which it then has hardly anything left in common.
” Mystery Pond” Limited edition Giclee print
“Can you tell us more about your mixed media work ‘The Mystery Pond’?“
The original oil painting of the ‘Mystery Pond’ represented a pond behind our house in broad daylight. I was happy with the result but also curious to see what it would look like if it were a night painting, and so I photographed it and digitally darkened it to get a more precise idea of the colour range. I then felt confident to paint a night version, and the resulting giclée print of it has a faint texture added digitally which gives the scene that element of mystery I am referring to in the title
