Jane Button is a printmaker who creates small-scale works from her home studio in Wundowie WA.
Can you tell us about yourself?
I love living in the country, where I am surrounded by birds and my many animals. I'm very lucky to have a great studio space where I can spend almost every day creating and experimenting, as well as lots of wall space to hang art that inspires me.
What does your work aim to say?
I am very inspired by the human face, and the stories or feelings that subtle expressions can convey. For the Ingle Wood Arts Hub exhibition specifically, I have always loved Alice in Wonderland, and especially the many many artists that have illustrated it and wanted to contribute my version of Carroll’s world and characters using my style.
Who are your biggest influences?
It would be hard to name any one artist. I have a great interest in Australian women artists, as well as the many great local creators we have in WA. If I see a piece I like, I’ll buy it and hang it up, so I think all of those singular pieces of work I have around the place contribute to my taste and aesthetic.
How has your career developed and evolved?
Although my father was an art teacher, I didn’t really get interested in art until I was in my late 30s. I attended a drawing workshop and then started at Midland TAFE until its closure, and started exhibiting and winning some art awards from there. I’ve taken care to ensure my practice is for my own enjoyment and self-fulfilment first and foremost, and my exhibitions have just come from that.
Describe your studio or workspace.
Wonderful! And diverse. I’ve been slowly expanding my studios throughout the house (my husband doesn’t mind as long as he’s got space for his xbox), and it’s changed to suit whichever medium I’m working with at that moment. For the last few years I’ve been focusing on printmaking, so I’ve been DIY-ing my workspace to fit that (including using slinkies for drying racks, which I can definitely recommend). For a while I was using a craft press to pull my prints, but after I won some awards at York and Bayswater a few years ago, I used the prize money to buy myself a wonderful press. He’s called Presston and I love him.
How do you stay motivated and productive in your art practice?
It’s hard to say. I try to stay focused on things I enjoy, and if a piece isn’t working I (usually) put it down and move onto something else. I often find that it’s when I come back to a piece weeks or months later that suddenly something clicks, or I incorporate it into a different piece I’m working on. I also find that specific faces really inspire me to get working again. I’ve worked up the courage a few times to ask someone I’ve seen in public that has an interesting face if I can take a photo, and will use those pictures to create lots of different works when I get home – even if the piece doesn’t end up looking particularly like them.
Down The Rabbit Hole,
Lino cut framed, 30x30cm
The White Rabbit
Lino cut in box,15x15cm
Contact Jane Button:
Website: www.janebutton.art
Instagram - @blueadmiral68
email: blueadmiral68@gmail.com
Comments