International Artist Day

Jingle Bell
by Leslie Redhead
oil on canvas, 5×7″

Today is International Artist Day. In celebration of this day each artist on Daily Painter’s International has been asked to write about an artist that has influenced them.

There are so many wonderful artists that have influenced me that it was hard to choose. I had plans to highlight Andrew Wyeth or John Singer Sargent when I realized that the piece I was working on was directly influenced by local artist, Catherine Moffat.

Last Thursday night I had the opportunity to watch Catherine demonstrate a portrait in oil. It has been some time since I have painted in oil but that night I came home and wanted to paint in oil. So I found a small canvas and a photo kicking around the house and started to paint.

Jingle Bell is the result.

Catherine Moffat is a Victoria artist known for her beautiful portraits and still lifes in oil and watercolor. I am amazed that she is able to do both so wonderfully. To me, watercolor comes naturally and I have always struggled with oil. I think light to dark (watercolor) instead of dark to light (oil). When I had the chance to jury a show with Catherine, I asked her about the transition to oil from watercolor. Her response was that she still struggles with oil (HA!) and she had to stop the watercolor completely as she taught herself to paint in oil. That made me feel so much better! And now that I have the bug for oil again, I may be completing some more soon.