Artist Influence

100 Day Project Day 60

I confess that I got a new book today, or at least new to me. It’s a retrospective of the Scottish artist Pat Douthwaite, an artist I am currently obsessed with.

Douthwaite trained as a dancer, then became an artist in later life, which is just absolutely right up my street. The preface to the book has some absolute gems about this woman that are absolutely delicious to me:

‘one of Scotland’s most original and difficult painters‘

‘seeks to place Douthwaite’s work as one of the triumphs of feminist art‘

‘Her work is not easily defined, however, at once naive and intellectually loaded, personal but resonating with cultural references. It was not made for others but came from that deep-seated need of the creative to make, to express.‘

‘many cultural impresarios from both public and private parts of the establishment who were attracted to her to begin with but found her impossible to deal with are wary of her aftermath as if the work carries toxicity‘

I love that she was ‘impossible to deal with‘, and I’d suggest that last paragraph is a good example of the kind of systemic discrimination women face in the arts, or any industry, and the way it excludes their work, where a man of similar character would not be treated this way.

My own art practise went well today, I’m over whatever hump I was stuck behind, and got some painting and sketching done. The girl with the cat is almost finished, just need to go back in and do some fixing around her face, and some finishing touches.

I’m going to spend the evening looking at all the paintings in my new book 🙂

Til the morn,

Suzanne