Merv Lindsay - Artist of the Month
“Watercolours have taken me on a journey through experiences beyond my wildest dreams.”
Plein air in Bordeaux
I began fiddling with watercolours about 10 years ago and joined Charles Martin’s monthly plein air group soon after. Like most, I struggled to find my style but had so much fun that even then I had a sense that this would be life changing. Every now and then I produced something I was happy with and that further inspired me to search for improvement.
I’ve had patient mentoring from Charles that whole time and I get inspiration from a French artist friend, Patrick Peret, who I paint with when in France.
My recommendation to anyone is to do lessons with as many artists as possible. I have learned from John Haycraft, Tony White, Joe Carmichael, Amid El Hadad, Chan Dissanayake and Herman Pekel. The aim is never to emulate these artists but to learn bits and build them into one’s style.
We have a house in a French village (Entraygues-sur-Truyere) and it has inspired a lot of my work. I’ve exhibited there in a small local gallery and in 2019 I was the featured artist in the village tourism office gallery. What a buzz that was. I’ve had about 49 people at the opening which was opened by the mayor. Then this year I entered a plein air competition in Bordeaux and to my amazement, I got second place. That was a fabulous experience mixing with their art community after getting my award from the mayor of Bordeaux.
There have been so many highlights in this new phase of my life. The self discovery in something that I continue to improve in (and at my age I can’t think of anything else I’m getting better at), the sense of achievement each time I produce something that’s better than I expected, but the big surprise is the experience and pleasure of meeting so many artists. Some I admire and know I’ll never match, others, like me, who are just enjoying the journey, and a few that I can see have talent that could take them wherever they want to go.
Next May I have invited Herman Pekel to visit our village in France to paint with a group from here together with 3 or 4 artists from our area in France. I’m really looking forward to that…. But I look forward to every new painting adventure and every new painting.
I’ve had patient mentoring from Charles that whole time and I get inspiration from a French artist friend, Patrick Peret, who I paint with when in France.
My recommendation to anyone is to do lessons with as many artists as possible. I have learned from John Haycraft, Tony White, Joe Carmichael, Amid El Hadad, Chan Dissanayake and Herman Pekel. The aim is never to emulate these artists but to learn bits and build them into one’s style.
We have a house in a French village (Entraygues-sur-Truyere) and it has inspired a lot of my work. I’ve exhibited there in a small local gallery and in 2019 I was the featured artist in the village tourism office gallery. What a buzz that was. I’ve had about 49 people at the opening which was opened by the mayor. Then this year I entered a plein air competition in Bordeaux and to my amazement, I got second place. That was a fabulous experience mixing with their art community after getting my award from the mayor of Bordeaux.
There have been so many highlights in this new phase of my life. The self discovery in something that I continue to improve in (and at my age I can’t think of anything else I’m getting better at), the sense of achievement each time I produce something that’s better than I expected, but the big surprise is the experience and pleasure of meeting so many artists. Some I admire and know I’ll never match, others, like me, who are just enjoying the journey, and a few that I can see have talent that could take them wherever they want to go.
Next May I have invited Herman Pekel to visit our village in France to paint with a group from here together with 3 or 4 artists from our area in France. I’m really looking forward to that…. But I look forward to every new painting adventure and every new painting.
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