Reminiscence Painting

Charmaine Boyle (b: 1976) My art reflects the natural world, celebrating nature, energy and shifting light within florals and changing seasons. I believe flowers have the ability to transcend barriers of language, politics and culture. They symbolize love, femininity, friendship, gentleness and strength, memories and moments of nostalgia, birth and death, connecting people across generations.   Working mainly in oils (loving the versatility and richness this medium offers), I explore grace and form within elegant lines, careful brushworks and occasional sweeps of the palette knife - revealing details and then replacing them with calm, strong colour, muted tones and softer glazes. Although my primary approach is Indirect, I enjoy working with wet paint to create movement and softness throughout, often working in sections, returning later to add detail, highlights, depth and soft glazes to further enhance and soften the painting. When I paint it’s a very tactile experience, using a diverse array of tools, from old and new brushes, to my fingers, sponges and the occasional palette knife. I enjoy the flexibility of blending on canvas and the energy this brings to each piece. I believe creating art in this way adds awareness and momentum to my art, keeping me present while creating. The common thread across my latest paintings is an expressive power and sense of three-dimensionality formed by the out-of-focus, bokeh backgrounds.  The natural separation within these settings together with the feeling of depth, brings both atmosphere and prominence to my subject’s. Colour, rhythm and use of space on the canvas is universal across all my compositions.