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My
mother once told me that I was her “easiest” child because
she could sit me down on the floor at the age of two with a pencil and
paper and, for hours, I would draw... furniture, mantel,
vases, brothers and sisters, anything and everything,
whether it moved or not!.”
Isobel George still “draws” from what’s around her,
ingesting the images and emotions and re-creates them
as watercolour, oil, acrylic and mixed media paintings in an
abstract or semi-figurative style. In watercolour, she has developed a
technique of working with the water, the pigment and
the paper, that produces the flow and spontaneity
inherent in her work.
“Drawing
subject matter from life and from my imagination, I
begin a piece with a minimal pencil sketch on heavy,
rough watercolour paper. Working wet-on-wet, I apply
my initial background colours, using broad brushes
loaded with pigment, creating a combination of
intense, bold colour and subtle, seductive washes. I
use the paper as my palate, allowing the colours to
flow and blend freely together. I may add
black gouache to some areas of the painting, which
creates a vivid contrast between the opacity of the
gouache and the translucency of the watercolour.
Sometimes, I add a touch of soft pastel and,
perhaps, some gold leaf... providing an interesting
textural interplay.”
She uses a very different approach when working with
oils and acrylics, which tend to come from a
contrary, unrelated corner of her mind. No drawing
is involved -- she launches straight in with the colour
and allows the painting to develop a form and
structure of its own.
A
native of London, England, Isobel George emigrated to
Virginia in 1971 with
her husband and two sons where, as a self-taught
artist, she spent fifteen years working in graphic
design and illustration, providing imagery for books
and periodicals.
For almost forty years, she has dedicated herself
fully to painting, dividing her creative time
between California and the south of France. Her
work is exhibited in both public and private collections
in Europe, South America and the U.S.A.
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