Profile - Lara Chapman

Artists Statement

"I love oil paint and the still life genre. I am particularly interested in capturing light, composition, form and colour manipulation. The quality of the painting surface and the brushwork is a primary concern for me when I paint. A lot of my detail comes in the structure within the paint. Laying the marks with directional intent directs both the eye around the artwork, and bounces light accordingly. These large planes of colour are quite abstract in nature. I look for and translate the subtle changes in colour temperature and manipulate values for effect. Capturing light with pure pigments is how I produce paintings that are beautiful. I use artist quality materials and I mix all of my colours. Colour mixing is a large part of each painting. The paintings inform my decision making throughout the creative process. I am constantly asking myself ‘what does the painting need?’ As a colourist, I use colour for expressive effect.” 

Encouraged by her senior art teacher to study art teaching, Lara holds a high school art teaching degree and taught in three schools in Queensland, up until the birth of her second child. She has a life long passion for art and art education, establishing the Art Department at her last state high school appointment. Lara now paints commercially from her home studio in Brisbane, Queensland. 

Artist Bio

Lara Chapman is a Brisbane based representational painter, focused on creating oil paintings inspired by everyday objects and the changing seasons. Respecting the genre of traditional Still Life, Lara thoughtfully curates and depicts vessels, fabrics, fruit and foraged flora from her garden and local surrounds. She engages in observation based studio practice. Her painterly style focuses on quality brushwork, capturing the nuances of light.  Through joyful application of colour the paintings reveal what it was that captured the artist' eye. Working wet on wet, Lara paints directly from life. This direct style of painting involves hand mixed colours, applied liberally to create a beautiful painted surface. The most recent works explore value and colour manipulation for effect.

CV

Education:

• Diploma of Secondary Teaching – Art, Kelvin Grove College
• Bachelor of Education, Queensland University of Technology

Paintings sold through:

Purple Noon Gallery, 606 Terrace Rd, Freemans Reach NSW 2756

Art Nuvo Gallery, 25 Gloucester Rd, Buderim QLD 4556

Studio Direct, The Gap QLD 4061

Solo Exhibitions:

‘ Tabletop’ 2018, Wild Canary, Brookfield

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2020 Art Nuvo Buderim ‘Euonia’ Exhibition

2019 Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award Gallery Finalist

2019 Brisbane Grammar School Art Show ‘Aurum’

2019 Aspire Gallery ‘In Focus’ Exhibition

2017 MPN Online Charity Exhibition curated by Amber Creswell Bell

1989 Group Exhibition Kelvin Grove College graduating Class

Awards:

2019 Finalist Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award, Qld

2018 Royal Queensland Show – Third Place Still Life Genre, Qld

www.larachapmanart.com