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Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself

by Fashionlady
Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself

Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself
As far back as I can remember, I spent hours loving drawing and painting as a child, and did particularly well in art in school. After I left school I hankered for jobs in creative roles such as Fashion Photographers Assistant, and so on, and combined my ‘day’ job with some freelance Fashion Illustration work. Through lots of perseverance and ‘freebies’ I launched myself into the world of magazines and publications. Getting recognition was the reward for the sometimes over spent time trying to get the illustration just right for the client. Sometimes just saying ‘Yes’ to an illustration job not knowing whether I could do it! But I did do it. I think you have to force yourself out of your comfort zone a few times to know what you are actually capable of. Eventually I did cultivate part time freelance illustration work for local fashion Magazines in Australia and then being recognized abroad, appearing in several International Fashion Illustration publications such as, Great Big Book of Fashion Illustration, Big Book of Fashion Illustration and Cutting Edge Fashion Illustration.

In 2004 I decided I wanted to take my career as an Artist/Painter more seriously and wanted to concentrate more on this rather than that of the Illustration. In 2005 I was accepted into Parsons School of Art (the New School) in New York, studying Fine Art. Unfortunately, my studies were cut short due to family tragedy and my art career was put on hold. Because of this, I didn’t paint for a couple of years. However something in me wanted to get back into creating and in 2010 I completed two Artist Residencies at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) New York, in Painting and Illustration, helping me develop a new direction and a new body of energised work. I was excited again and wanted to paint again. This is where I gained the confidence and recognition from critics and peers to move forward with my career. In turn, resulting in my starting to sell paintings and being recognized by Art buyers and collectors. My career got an extra boost in 2013 being chosen by Saatchiart.com as one of the strong emerging talent in their ‘One to Watch’ Emerging Artists. I think what I have learned thus far is that you have to stay truthful to what comes from you creatively and do what you are passionate about and then PERSERVERANCE.

Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself

source: fionamaclean.com

As an Artist I’m fascinated by the fleetingness of youth, beauty and sexuality and the elusiveness of these particular elements, trying to capture those elements within my portraits and figurative work. I’m always curious to discover whom the subject is behind the façade, trying to get to the essence of the person, and bringing to life the portrait or figure.

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I’m very interested in the sexuality of the image/subject, their beauty, and who they are. Evoking an element of ‘drama’ to the subject where the viewer can ‘draw their own conclusions to what this person’s ‘story’ maybe. I work mostly from photographs I take of the subject or sometimes from random photographs as reference. But for a portrait I do often take numerous photos of the person, as I need to capture the eyes! My portraits and even some of my more figurative work I almost always have the eyes as a focus. If I can’t get the eyes of the sitter right I am not happy with the portrait. I work mainly in Acrylics, using them like a watercolor and I also work in Oils too for my portraits. At the moment I’m working on a series of paintings inspired by my travels through the beautiful city of Barcelona.

Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself

source: fionamaclean.com

Fiona’s work has been described as “hauntingly beautiful and that her portraits have traces of glamour and intrigue beneath their honesty. Her subjects are intensely engaging extracting and translating fragments of secrets of the soul.”

Hear it Directly From Fiona Maclean Herself

source: fionamaclean.com

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