“Every child has a spirit of Creation.” Nadine Reynolds 140cm x 48 cm Acrylic and silk thread on silk $500 Nadine Reynolds “Every child has a spirit of Creation” 140cm x 48 cm Acrylic and silk thread on silk $750 I was eight and we were preparing to immigrate. We needed to move around a bit, and I was not good at changing school. Home-schooling was the chosen solution. Following a Montessori curriculum we studied Art – Giotto, Rubens, Kokoschka. Strange choices for Year 4, but who am I to say? The images of those artworks including “Portrait of Susanna Lunden” by Peter Paul Rubens c 1622 are seared in my brain. Rubens himself said “Every child has a spirit of creation.” As an art teacher of children from 4 to 18 years I completely agree.
Nadine Reynolds “Household names” 140cm x 48 cm Acrylic and silk thread on silk $750 It seems crazy to say it but when I was a child, I knew no famous female artists. Much later in life I discovered the works of women such as Georgia O’Keefe, Frida Kahlo and Mary Cassatt. Thankfully they are now household names. “Breakfast in Bed” by Mary Cassatt has informed this work. I love the exuberance of the young child oblivious to the exhaustion on her mother’s face. Child-like drawings float above the pair. They are embroidered. Always, in my work a way to honour grandmothers. By the time this work is shown I will also have this privileged title.
Nadine Reynolds “A line around your thoughts” 140cm x 48 cm Acrylic and silk thread on silk $750 Learning from "The Masters" is a pleasant challenge. So much of the thinking work in terms of colour and composition has been done, so I could concentrate on the demands of working on silk. I really enjoyed adding the gold. I was surprised that initially it didn't hold the amazing results I had hoped. I went back into my studio late in the afternoon to take some final photos and was astounded in the difference that just an hour had made to the light. It really was the golden hour.
Nadine Reynolds “Where is the Pearl Earring?” 140cm x 48 cm Acrylic and silk thread on silk $750 Interestingly, instead of posters of Scott Baio and ‘the Fonz’ my teenage bedroom was decorated with Vermeer prints including “The girl with Pearl Earring.” Years later and as an art teacher I’m really interested in aesthetic influences. I have enjoyed the challenge of learning from the masters. I have researched colour palettes and historic contexts, but it’s the eyes that have captured my soul. Who was this girl in the blue turban with the pearl earring? Did she also look up at her bedroom wall and dream of her future life? Did she live to a comfortable middle age surrounded by wonderful family and friends? We can only wonder. As an art teacher I’m really interested in aesthetic influences and have enjoyed the challenge of learning from works I loved as a child. The embroidered paintings are on silk to communicate ideas of change, flow and influence.