Artist of the Month – Alex Halliday

“I try to remember to be grateful for the gifts that we enjoy from day to day.”

– Alex Halliday, insidewink’s artist of the month

Alex Halliday is a wonderful portrait artist from across the pond. She took a chance and reached out to us from England. We appreciated her gumption and we really loved her work… so here’s Alex…

What started you on this path?

I have always loved art, drawing and painting, but in my middle years tended to neglect my own creativity.

Redundancy, though it was a shock at the time, put me in just the right position to follow a new path. I kept experiencing ’nudges’ to pick up my pencils again, so I did not resist.

Who gave you the most support early on?

I am very grateful that my husband, family and friends were very supportive. Whereas I tend to find fault in my work, those around me seemed to like my art and gave me encouragement. My business as a portrait artist naturally developed from the portraits I had done for friends and family.

What does your work aim to say?

We are all beings of love, and when I produce a drawing of a loved one for someone, in a small way it reaffirms that aspect of who we are.

An emotional reaction when I hand over a drawing of a special person in someone’s life is very moving for me. Recently I did a portrait for a lady of her mother. The mother was suffering from dementia; the portrait was taken from a photo of Mum as a younger and healthier woman. When I handed over the portrait to the lady, she cried. I am grateful to be able to create art as it taps into something that is much greater than ourselves that is eternal; love.

A client who is grieving over the loss of a pet recently said that my portrait captured just the expression on her pet’s face when he was standing quite impatiently wanting to go out the front door. A portrait of a loved one who has passed on reaffirms and reminds us of the eternal nature of love.

What do you love about Los Angeles (even if you don’t live here)?

I love California and I especially love the weather, and I am very jealous as in England it is chilly now.

What do you consider success?

Success is behaving in a way that is true to ourselves.

What’s been a real high-point in your career or life?

Giving birth to my daughter. She took a long time to come along, and when she did, the waiting was worth-while.

What was the best piece of advice given to you?

Contrast! My art teacher’s emphasis on this has been a good lesson for me; it is contrast between lights and darks in a piece of art that makes it pop.

What’s your motto or words to live by?

I try to remember to be grateful for the gifts that we enjoy from day to day. Especially now the weather has become chilly here in the south of England, I am grateful that I do not have to go outside in the cold to go to the toilet, as my grandparents had to. I am thankful that I don’t have to fill a jug with cold water to wash, or make up the fire with frost-bitten fingers; I can just turn on the tap for a warm shower, and rely on the central heating to come on automatically.

What makes you laugh?

My young cat Gwennie. When she is in a playful mood, she jumps about the room and then comes to a complete stop, with eyes wide open and ears erect.

This morning she went missing in the house, and was nowhere to be seen. Eventually we heard a rustle and a squeak from the chest of drawers. She had jumped in when it was open, and got trapped when the drawer was closed.