I said in my “Cornish Coastal Stunner” post on Wednesday that I had fallen in love with Jeanni Grant-Nelson’s painting the moment I saw it . . . and duly had to buy it.
My decision maybe smacked of emotion, and it turns out this could well have been the case.
As Jeanni, my Truro-based teacher and good friend of the past ten years, has now made clear.
I asked her to provide an insight or three by way of background to this particular painting, and she replied: “I tell my students – as I have always found myself – that if there is an emotion behind your art it is always so much better.
“Somehow the viewer or purchaser of that art can tell the difference from a picture painted purely through Siri (digital assistance, artificial intelligence) and not love.”
Jeanni’s Mawgan Porth picture was “an active meditation” taking more than 40 hours, usually working 12 hours in total concentration.
By contrast, her en plein air paintings (painted all outdoors) need to be completed in one day and one mood to capture the feeling of a specific day rather than the details in their full glory.
During the summer months, Jeanni is busier teaching as well as painting and she has fewer opportunities to spend many hours concerned with copious amounts of detail.
“Once the season ends,” she says, “I always find it a joy to set myself a project where I can take a few days to create a realistic image of a favourite view.”
Her latest painting – and it’s mine now, all mine! - was “an act of love” borne of a beach that has always been a big favourite of hers and her children.
And Jeanni describes herself as fortunate three times over.
“I love painting, I love teaching, and I love inspiring people to believe in themselves,” she explains. “So I am truly blessed to lead a lifestyle that allows me to do all three on a daily basis.”
For more about Jeanni and her paintings, events and courses, see https://www.visual-awareness.com
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