My Space Criss Canning, Artist
The Age
Saturday February 24, 2007
Still-life artist Criss Canning lives and works in an 1860s bluestone farmhouse north of Ballarat, where her husband, David Glenn, has created the renowned Lambley Nursery. Flowers from their garden are a major inspiration in Canning's paintings. The couple came to live here 14 years ago after living and working in the Dandenongs.
Describe where you live. We've got about 40 acres and about five acres under intense garden cultivation, and I don't think you could live in this atmosphere without being touched by the beauty of it. I'm surrounded by flowers, and nature is always inspiring in some sense. Your senses are very alert in this environment because you are constantly seeing new growth and colour, and colour against colour, which very much is a part of my work. As an artist you see the colour harmonies that nature presents; they are often very difficult and very strange but really exciting, and that has been a huge catalyst for me.Describe where you work. This room used to be the sitting room of the house, which was built in 1860. When I came here I had no studio, but this room has the most fabulous south light, which is what you need for painting. I kept thinking I would build another studio, but this room has grown to become really important. It has an intimacy that really suits my work . . . This room is very still. One person who came in here said it's like coming into a church because there is this beautiful sense of stillness. But the other weird thing is that when I'm painting for a show, I'll have all of my work in here; I can have 12, 18 months, two years of work, all stacked in here around me. But when the work goes out for a show, there is this strange sense of energy that's left the room. Other people have commented on it too; it's almost a tangible thing. This room is really important; I don't let people in here unless they're invited. Even my husband doesn't come in unless I'm in here. I'm happy in here.Did moving from the Dandenongs to this property inspire or change your work? Coming from the Dandenongs, with its huge canopy of trees, you rarely saw the sky; it was moist and green. All of these things this (property) is not. And it's had an enormous impact on my work . . . The work suddenly became more sparse in the use of objects and plant material. And also my palette has changed enormously. This is quite a challenging environment compared with the Dandenongs. You were always so hugged and secure in a sense under that canopy, whereas here you are exposed to the elements: the wind, the sky, the heat. If you'd have asked me 15 or 16 years ago if I could have lived here, I would have said don't be crazy. I couldn't cope with that heat, that dryness and that openness. Now if you asked me to go back to the Dandenongs, I'd say no way. I've totally fallen in love with this area.What do you look for when choosing the different elements for your paintings?I don't have a set formula. It's sort of a gut thing of what pleases me. It's often about colour more than anything else. It's gathering elements together - whether it's ceramics or fabrics - and putting them with the main props, which would be the flowers. And bringing elements together that play against each other. I liken it to music; it really is like finding a balance and harmony that in a sense is quite musical so that they not only sit together but they strengthen each other.What do you like about choosing plants from your own property? It probably excites my husband a great deal. He loves that I paint the things he grows. A few years ago I started doing more native material, such as banksias, and we don't grow that. I had some people in the Grampians who said I could come and pick whatever I wanted from their garden. So I started doing this and he was looking really sad . . . and I had to prod him to get out of him that it was because I wasn't painting his plant material . . . But this is where the greatest material comes from.If you lived in an urban environment, how would that affect your work? I would hate to be trying to work amid the noise; the noise would just drive me crazy. Here, there is no noise. And I love that. It's just total peace. The odd sheep or tractor, that's about as noisy as it gets.Is there somewhere else you could live that would inspire your work more? I've been having a bit of an ache for countries with lots of colour, and I haven't been to Istanbul, and I'd love to see the mosaics there. Also, I've not been to Spain and I adore red. I always think of Spain being red - probably it's the poor old bulls. A major retrospective, Kalianthi: The Art of Criss Canning, is at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery until May 13.
© 2007 The Age
