Eiffel Tower with Fleur-de-Lys painting by Jill Ann Harper
This week’s artwork of the week is a beautiful oil painting of the Eiffel Tower by Jill Ann Harper. The artwork is one in a series of paintings of landmarks from around the world, which also includes the London Eye with Lilies and the Taj Mahal with Lotus.
The painting is on canvas board at 12 (H) x 10 (W) inches (approx. 30 x 25 cm). Framed in a handmade wooden white frame.
In Jill’s words
An original oil painting of the Eiffel Tower framed with beautiful fleur-de-lys flowers – or blue irises – the national flower of France. This is the second painting in a series of works combining monuments and flowers in a slightly surrealist way.
I have produced this painting using artist grade oil paint on canvas. A coat of professional grade art varnish has been applied to optimise the colour and protect the painting from dust, UV light and other environmental factors.
About Jill
I became a professional oil painter in 2015, following a 20-year career in governance. Working from my studio at home in Rochester, I love to sit in the peace and quiet and paint. My style is mostly realism, although I do quite like to simplify what I’m painting to focus on key content. A lot of my work is bold and bright.
I paint a lot of architecture, flowers and cats but common to all my work is clean lines and crisp images. Painting is in my bones, not only because it keeps me sane but it also allows me to communicate directly from my soul.
The messages in my work are often centred around the beauty of nature; the funny things that cats do; and the amazing accomplishments of humankind in the design of bridges, architecture and monuments. Ultimately, I see my work as a reminder to notice and appreciate everything that is positive in this life.
QUESTIONS TO THE ARTIST
Firstly, how did the transition from a career in governance to professional painting come about? Have you always wanted to be a professional artist?
I started painting in late-2014 as a hobby, but I soon realised that people quite liked my painting and I received two commission requests in early-2015. This gave me the notion that perhaps I could make art my living. It took a while to build up my portfolio and to start selling enough to quit my day job, but I eventually did so in 2018. Nearly seven years on as a professional artist, I’ve never looked back!
I love the crisp clean lines you create in your artworks – it is very unique. Have you always painted in this style? Have you experimented with looser styles?
I have always painted in this style and I have never experimented with looser styles. I have thought about it (briefly!) but the way I paint is what I like to do, and I hope to be doing something a little bit different.
Do you work from photographs, real life, imagination to create artworks? Or all?
To begin with, I mostly worked from photographs as it’s much easier to be based in the studio with everything around me rather than packing up my materials to take with me – not to mention trying to deal with the weather outdoors! But more recently I’ve started to incorporate elements of imagination into my work to make compositions and colour palettes more interesting.
How long would an artwork like this take to produce? And what challenges, if any, do you face creating them?
This particular artwork only took two and a half days to produce because it’s quite small but on average, an artwork will take five days. The biggest challenge I face is knowing that a painting is finished. I have a tendency to ‘tinker’, which I think a lot of artists do. Because I can be a perfectionist it can mean that after an artwork is finished, I will see endless problems and things that need to be fixed. I think this could drive a person insane!
Lastly, which artists inspire you?
I love the work of J S Lowry – the architecture, the lines and perspective of buildings, the simplicity of his images but also their complexity. I’m also inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s flower paintings for their bold simplicity and the way she uses lines and shading.
