Hazel
Lale, BA (Hons) Fine Art
Born
in Newark Nottinghamshire, Hazel Lale has a lifetime's interest
in painting and drawing, gaining prizes from infant school
to A Level. Her reasons for painting are multifaceted which
she says is primarily an emotional response to her surroundings.
She explains...
"I
divest myself of the need to put marks and colour on paper
with an emotional intensity which sometimes even I find bewildering.
I strive for ease of understanding of line, colour and form
that will allow me to be totally involved in the picture making,
allowing it to totally take me over and dictate what comes
next. At this stage I'm oblivious to everything else apart
from a need to create the right brush stroke. Painting is
the key that locks me into life, from visiting the theatre,
pop concerts, classical music and people watching. Smells,
lighting, feelings, all of these I carry round with me to
use unconsciously in my imagination later."
Influences on Hazel's work include the simplicity of line
and minimal brush strokes of Japanese art, and the American
artist Mary Cassatt, who with Monet and the Impressionists
are so noted for their treatment of light and form. Another
American artist, Andrew Wyeth has had a significant effect
for his use of negative space and tension. Others include
Kathe Klowitz for her dramatic emotional figures, Gaugin for
form and colour and Topolski for immediacy and line.
"All of these artists had an
enormous gift for portraying transient light, simple form
and emotion. They greatly affect my thinking and my style
of painting."
Themes
Hazel Lale is attracted to themes which allow her to break
free of outlines with energy and capture her imagination.
It is not so much the subject but the light falling on a pattern,
a gesture, a discordant colour and a memory which fits in
with a fleeting image.
Figurative work, flowers, street scenes, animals and birds
which allow her to play with colour are all subjects she considers.
The challenges of landscapes are also tackled. Early responses
to the striving to express and emotional reaction to shapes
and moods in the landscape have moulded and changed her style
considerably. Hazel says,
"My claustrophobic reaction
to straight lines and being locked into a form just does not
feel right at all. I have to break the form to lock it into
the background, but at the same time create edges and nuances."
Approaches
and Priorities
The approach to work which Hazel adopts is simply that it
should be a way of life. Recognising that drawing is fundamental
to good painting, Hazel is never without her sketch book.
Absorbing the essence of what confronts her on a daily basis,
organises her mind and gives her an instinctive touch when
she paints. Her work is totally dictated by the way she feels.
A clear, sharp focus on her painting allows her to have the
clarity and energy she needs to express herself. Currently,
Hazel is exploring a melange of ideas relating to intensifying
local colour and experimenting with form through negative
space and line.
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