JeanNe Moles
FLYING COLOURS
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When I first spoke to Jeanne Moles, I suggested meeting at her New Forest home so we could conduct the interview outside and enjoy the sunshine - we both laughed because, at the time, we could barely hear each other over the rumble of thunder!
However, beneath a cloudless sky the following day, I was sitting in her fabulous garden sipping tea.
'What a contrast', she said thoughtfully. 'When I was at college in Bournemouth, I lived in this grotty little room which was about the size of that thing', Jeanne pointed to a gazebo - way over the other side of the garden. 'There was a gas ring, a tiny window - a bed, a chair, and that was about it!'.
I asked what influenced her in the beginning - 'I suppose it was the only thing I was any good at', she said - 'that and sport!' - 'So I went to Art School - Maidstone for about 18 months, then to Bournemouth where I studied to be an Art teacher. In fact, I taught there for half the time I was a student.
After completing her studies, Jeanne worked at a 'new' secondary modern school in Bournemouth. Unfortunately, as is often the case, her art took a back seat for a time - for she married, had children, and then moved to Singapore with her husband's work commitments.
'I just loved Singapore; we had three years there, and the children were all still very young - five, four, and a few months, I think, it was terrific. A few of us formed an art group. We would go out sketching during the day, and I would get my paints out when the children were tucked up in bed at night.
Jeanne's work retains the richness of colour influenced by her time in Singapore. Her main love is figurative work - airports, railway stations - pubs - anywhere there are people, and people doing 'things' she told me. 'If I'm somewhere like that, I'm just itching to get my sketch pad out'.
She works on a variety of surfaces in mixed media but, most interestingly, loves sandpaper. She showed me a piece with a fine glasspaper surface: 'It can make your knuckles bleed if you get too carried away, but I love the way you can grind the pastel onto its surface, and it takes charcoal wonderfully. It's also a great way of getting rid of all those tensions,' she laughed.
Jeanne uses anything she might find in her studio - snippets of card for linework, the wooden end of her brush, rag dipped in paint - 'my brushes wear out after three pictures on this surface, so I have to be resourceful'.
Jeanne Moles has exhibited widely and, over the years, has had shows in London, Paris and, of course, Singapore. Others include the Pastel Society in the Mall and the Royal West of England Academy. She has also been a keen member of the Lymington Palette Club since - she describes 'the dawning of time'.
I have to say Jeanne's work holds a vibrancy many artists would find challenging to balance, and the paintings are a direct descendant of this artist's wonderful personality.
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN 'T'TIMES ART SECTION'
However, beneath a cloudless sky the following day, I was sitting in her fabulous garden sipping tea.
'What a contrast', she said thoughtfully. 'When I was at college in Bournemouth, I lived in this grotty little room which was about the size of that thing', Jeanne pointed to a gazebo - way over the other side of the garden. 'There was a gas ring, a tiny window - a bed, a chair, and that was about it!'.
I asked what influenced her in the beginning - 'I suppose it was the only thing I was any good at', she said - 'that and sport!' - 'So I went to Art School - Maidstone for about 18 months, then to Bournemouth where I studied to be an Art teacher. In fact, I taught there for half the time I was a student.
After completing her studies, Jeanne worked at a 'new' secondary modern school in Bournemouth. Unfortunately, as is often the case, her art took a back seat for a time - for she married, had children, and then moved to Singapore with her husband's work commitments.
'I just loved Singapore; we had three years there, and the children were all still very young - five, four, and a few months, I think, it was terrific. A few of us formed an art group. We would go out sketching during the day, and I would get my paints out when the children were tucked up in bed at night.
Jeanne's work retains the richness of colour influenced by her time in Singapore. Her main love is figurative work - airports, railway stations - pubs - anywhere there are people, and people doing 'things' she told me. 'If I'm somewhere like that, I'm just itching to get my sketch pad out'.
She works on a variety of surfaces in mixed media but, most interestingly, loves sandpaper. She showed me a piece with a fine glasspaper surface: 'It can make your knuckles bleed if you get too carried away, but I love the way you can grind the pastel onto its surface, and it takes charcoal wonderfully. It's also a great way of getting rid of all those tensions,' she laughed.
Jeanne uses anything she might find in her studio - snippets of card for linework, the wooden end of her brush, rag dipped in paint - 'my brushes wear out after three pictures on this surface, so I have to be resourceful'.
Jeanne Moles has exhibited widely and, over the years, has had shows in London, Paris and, of course, Singapore. Others include the Pastel Society in the Mall and the Royal West of England Academy. She has also been a keen member of the Lymington Palette Club since - she describes 'the dawning of time'.
I have to say Jeanne's work holds a vibrancy many artists would find challenging to balance, and the paintings are a direct descendant of this artist's wonderful personality.
THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN 'T'TIMES ART SECTION'
