Teacher, artist Gladys Neilsen
The artist in her studio and a selection of recent paintings. The
flowers are representative of Neilsen’s best-known style but the birches,
Although Gladys Neilsen now lives closer to Fredericton NB, many in this part of the valley know her from the many years she spent in the Williamstown area which she calls “a nice place to grow up.” She taught school for 10 years in Centreville but it wasn’t until the late 1980 that she began teaching art and she still offers art lessons in Fredericton and this fall in Woodstock. (For more information on the the six-week session focusing on texture, e-mail her or check her facebook page.)
Neilsen’s work is displayed regularly in Fredericton, at the McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville-Bristol and she is Artist of the Month for October at the Creek Village Gallery in downtown Woodstock NB.
A reception to recognize her achievement will be held there on Tuesday, October 13 when Artisan of the Month Connie Wilkinson will also be taking a bow for her distinctive chain maille jewellery.
Gladys, in addition to an early career in the public system, you’ve also been teaching as a certified art instructor for about twenty-five years. Tell me how that started.
I took a decorative painting class myself in the late 1980s ─ actually I took a lot of classes that included watercolour, acrylic and oil ─ and ended up travelling and teaching all over Canada and the US. I even spent some time in Asia. I taught and sold instructional books and packets as well as taking art classes myself at the week-long conventions.
That sounds rigorous…
No matter where, people use classes as a relaxing social event ─ to have fun and learn something new. But they learn by doing and I’ve always had to practice to keep ahead of my students.
Like anything else, you have to
keep practicing your art and learning.
I was on that kick for a while but I’ve done a lot of other painting, some featuring [the recreated pioneer settlement] King’s Landing ─ which I enjoyed ─ and currently I have landscapes on display in Fredericton. I did a few with music themes for the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival there. I’ll be offering a variety for the show at Creek Village and exhibiting some quite different work.
Seems like you experiment with technique a lot. What’s next?
I’m trying water marking, an abstract technique where you use a wet canvas, drop on the paint, spray it with water and watch it run together. When it starts to dry, you look at what’s there and then make something of it.
You make it sound easy. Your next art classes will deal with texture, I understand.
Yes. I paint from photographs and I really enjoy giving depth to a painting. I start using a texture medium that I sometimes sketch upon while wet, building more texture then adding colour starting with the lightest. Then I seal with a glazing medium. It seems that I can’t get away from the textured stuff now but students in the fall sessions will learn by doing and adapt the technique to their own style.
Having taught professionally for so long, what’s your view of the arts opportunities offered to young people these days in our public school system?
In the younger grades any art program seems to be an extracurricular activity, organized by staff. There’s obviously a lack of funding for the arts in the public school system but recently we are seeing more outreach programs from community organizations like the McCain Gallery which offer programs for children. This gives students an introduction to the arts and that promises to enhance all areas of their lives.
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