Gloria Dean Art & Design

General information

"I draw from life, making lightning sketches to capture the essence, body language, and mood. I use this as the basis of every painting.
Because I am fascinated by the body language of people, and animals, I strive to represent this as boldly and as fearlessly as I can: Life encompasses movement, music, bearing, joy, love, passion, compassion, melancholy, it is there to be seen, even in landscapes, and so it has been my intention to capture these qualities as I perceive them in any particular subject.
Growing up on my grandparents farm, I saw that our huge bulls could be lying apparently at ease, still and rooted, then explode into sudden action, the effect was, and still is, so paralysing to me, the onlooker. This quality has always impressed me and I see a similar quality of composure and potential is there in a great dancer, a great horse and rider…as they hold one spellbound.
I find that special quiet place in my mind before painting each piece, just as the dancer does before a great performance, we both seek a mental stillness and focus before we begin, then one can convey a sense of drama and emotion.
In the end my painting is not simply about the dancer or bull, its not the subject alone, but the purity of line, the absence of line, the emergence of form from light and shade, emotion from colour and attitude, the spirit and of course…motion from stillness."