We are viewing the work and interviewing Sharon Hodgson today, an artist from Halifax with a very colourful and often abstract style. here’s what she told us about her art:

When did you get involved in art?

I first started drawing when I was one year old. My mom saved a collection of drawings I did from that time. By the time I was four, I declared that I was going to become an artist when I grew up, and no amount of convincing could get me to choose a different path. I was that stubborn, and I stuck with it all my life thus far. I love art. I spend hours every day devoted to the ongoing creation of new pieces, and blog about them in my art blog on my site. I also journal any time I live paint events around town, and always post photos of the completed work for the world to see. The result is something like a picture-book illustrated story of events as I see them, many around the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

What inspires your work?

I love to paint live. I’m thrilled at the notion of showing up at a bar or other sort of venue where people are gathered, setting up paints, and then creating a work of art on the spot as an illustration of that event in time. I use colours brighter than real life and if subjects are moving, I strive to capture their most common movements as well. The act of getting out of my studio and going out into the public to create work where others can see is better advertising than any newspaper ad or flyer ever could be. I would love to see more artists attempt to create their works live. It brings the artist into the public eye, in front of people who might not even step into an art gallery.

In my home studio, I produce works without an audience present. My most common themes again have to do with movement and bright bold colours. I love to paint people and animals in motion, but shy away from machinery or vehicular motion unless I’m touching on a historical subject, such as older modes of transportation. (I’ve painted a coal train mural in the local region that people seem to quite like.) I love any artist who dares to use bold colours and/or an analytical approach to abstract art that doesn’t result in a Pollock-like splatter. (It’s been done!) Developing a process for depicting movement in art has allowed me to communicate a short series of actions on a two-dimensional surface.

I draw inspiration from the Cubists, Futurists, Surrealists, and of course the flamboyant colour choices of the Fauves, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, etc.

I do not – as the Futurists – use the study of motion in abstract art to the glory of machines, but would rather bring focus onto living creatures in motion. I use repetition of shapes and colours to lead the eye through a series of gestalted patterns like motion trails, so that people can “see” the subject moving in the piece. I want to help people visualize fourth-dimensional objects.

What materials do you use?

Acrylic on stretched canvas using brushes. My easel folds down into a suitcase for easy travel, and can hold a 70×90 cm canvas easily when opened up. It also carries my palettes, brushes and paints. I bring a rolling cart to carry my supplies, and a digital camera to take pictures of the completed works. Then I share the completions on my websites using OpenSource publishing tools. (I have been building websites for over twelve years, so that’s easy.)

Do you have any future goals?

I would very much like to travel to other places and paint more gatherings of people. I would love to paint events happening all across Canada, for example, and then share the resulting works with the world.

Such a project might make for an interesting picturebook one day – the world through the eyes of a live painter.

As for goals with my movement works, I want to incorporate more realistic elements into my movement gestalts so that there are more recognizable elements for people to latch onto, and then allow their eyes to relax and flow through the various suggested 4D shapes I attempt to conceptualize in my works.

Sharon also has her own website at www.sharonhodgson.com.