An Interview with Elizabeth Acland

Hi Lizzie good to see you, this is the first time I've been to your house, the terrace looks wonderful with the hanging baskets of Fuchsias and pots of Dahlia’s with big white daisies interspersed. Oh My! You have a hanging chair, please can I sit in there, I promise I won't constantly swing and spin in it! I love the coffee in this locally made pottery mug. It's always great to help other artists, and I love a chunky mug. And a nice big slice of M 'n' S cake, you do know as long as the sun stays out and the cake is still available I am not leaving here any time soon!

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​How's the arty life treating you since you retired from being an English teacher?
It's great after a breakfast of muesli and coffee, I do chores and walk our whippet - more later about her! I find that my most productive time is, oddly, about 5 pm, especially in winter. I by no means do I paint every day. Just in bursts. I am lucky enough to have my own studio, a lovely big untidy well lit space.

I've not had the pleasure of seeing you work. How do you create your works of art?
My process is pretty standard. Light sketching to get proportions roughly right. Then loose watercolour, often persuaded in to arcane shapes by my great love of cling film. (SUCH FUN!!) Next stage paint in to the patterns produced for me. Recently I have started to enhance with pastels at this stage. Meanwhile the dog looks after me from her prime position on my orange 50s Swedish chair. 

How long do you take to create your masterpieces?
​I suppose I spend 3-5 hours on any one piece of work. Sometimes I can keep a piece for many weeks and just look at it now again until it tells me what is wrong with it...

What do you prefer, indoor or outdoor painting?
I cant bear outdoor painting-always cold, always uncomfortable! I prefer to take my trusty iPhone out with me and photograph any tricks of light on flowers or fells. I print off large versions of these images and use them as a starting place for my work. 

​At the minute my 'I'd like to go to' place for painting is Italy, in the outskirts where the fields sweep through the land and buildings sit like they have been there since the dawn of time. Where is your 'go to' place
If I had to paint only one version of the natural world,  It would have to be my native County Donegal. I revisit there most summers for a burst of inspiration.

Are you a late starter to the art world?
I began painting in my fifties, inspired by  my immersion in completing an OU degree in History of Art. 

​Do you have any tips for anyone starting out with a brush and a pot of paint?
My tip for aspiring artists is “JFDI!”  Which roughly translates as “Just DO IT!”

Did you catch Haydn Morris, Maria Burton, & Margaret Jones's interview. Click on the name to read.