ARTIST of the month at the Cheese & Grain is Lise MacDermott.
Lise explained, “These paintings are a reflection of my life. The Heywood and Westbury White Horse series is the school run, St Catherine’s Hill represents our addiction to Frome’s festivals and markets, and the Badger series is my family at home with our pair of stuffed badgers rescued from a junk shop and now sagging from a decade of enthusiastic ‘playing with’ by children. Although not political, these paintings honour the beautiful badger at this time of mass slaughter.”
Lise uses a technique of stencilling on board to make paintings.
She said, “I like dividing the image into colours and tones, and prefer the spray can to the paintbrush. During the process of spraying and masking, the surface of the painting is gradually covered up and the actual picture not visible till the very end till it is peeled off like a big jigsaw puzzle to reveal the finished piece.
“I did a BA in Fine Art at Camberwell School of Art, after which I travelled and worked overseas, most memorably doing murals with children for various NGO’s and other organisations in Africa. Eventually I studied for an MA at Queensland College of Art, and had a lot of exhibitions there.
“Finally I settled back in the UK with my artist husband and have taken 10 years off painting to have a family. Now we run a restoration business, and we are both exhibiting again, which is a great new chapter.”
Don’t miss this exciting exhibition running throughout June at the Cheese and Grain in Frome.
Lise will be running a Meet the Artist session on Thursday 4th June at 6.00pm – 7.30pm in the Grain Bar. All welcome.
