An Aesthetic Arrest
Anna Galea is such a beautiful person to be around and to talk to. She exudes effortless charm and sophistication as we meet once again in her Marsaskala studio - now full of boxes in which her artworks remain un-inconvenienced and yet also in-wait to be let out.
Flowers in White, acrylics on canvas, 120x160cm
Our friendship began when I interviewed Anna for her extra large watercolour exhibition Still Stills last February. We talked about life, art, and the beauty of how the two are intertwined - possibly especially for the artist, but perhaps not exclusively.
In fact the beauty of Anna’s art, to me, is in the fact that it is so accessible - the elements she portrays are objects that surround us, that we see or touch on a daily basis. It is the beauty of our disappearing aesthetic skylines which she portrays with a hint of nostalgia. And yet, in these daily scenes there is something more ... something which lifts them high towards the transcendent even and perhaps to a hope in the knowing that we can see that too.
Here we continue the conversation …
Karawett, watercolour, 80x80cm Good Morning, oil, 50x50cm
Antoine Bourdelle once said that “the secret of art is love … Art brings out the grand lines of nature”. This seems to resonate with your art because so many of your artworks are dedicated to nature.
Yes, I am definitely inspired by nature. Even if I’m just walking along and I think ‘Wow, look at that ...’ I’m mostly intrigued by colour and the contrast of light and shadow. Sometimes I just take photographs but then when I come to the actual painting I highlight, focus and zoom into what struck me and I just interpret that.
You know, it’s all about beauty with me, I don’t like morbid subjects. I want to escape from the pain and misery of life and you know, focus on the beautiful. Even when it comes to sitting down and watching a series, there can’t be too much violence because I want to be surrounded by harmony. And so I want my art to be a reflection of that world. It is a form of escapism, I know it’s not always true - some of my more recent work does in fact show my disappointment, for example, towards the over-building. We’re ruining the skyline, when before you’d just see the beautiful church steeple, everything is now encroaching in a really horrible way.
And so this disappointment, this realisation of our present comes out in your abstracts?
Yes. I’ve also done a few watercolours with a nostalgic theme - showing the church dome and the skyline which is now being lost.
Nostalgia, watercolour, 50x50cm
Which is to say you’re still showing us beauty, but showing us the beauty we lack, the beauty that is present no more …
Mhm in a different way, yes. It is what I would like hanging on my wall too, what I choose to look at as opposed to the monstrosity that we have now.
This resonates with me, because in many ways it is so easy to become entangled and be part of that which is not beautiful - from what we see and what happens in daily life.
Yes, and it is reality but I’d like to believe in a different reality.
Well, this is your reality. Is it really escapism when you are always surrounded by beauty and intentionally (or unintentionally) seek it out? Doesn’t it just become who you are, what you’re attracted to and attracts you?
Even in my house, not only in my studio, I am surrounded by beautiful art. I have a couple which are my own, but I buy other artists’ artworks which I love and I hang that on my walls. I’d rather there be art on my walls, because it’s there for me daily and I’m always surrounded by nice things.
And it makes you feel better too.
I can’t understand how certain people want to buy things which, you know, just finish. Like handbags which cost a fortune, and other such things, and then they wouldn’t invest in art.
Which is timeless …
Yes it’s timeless, your children could inherit it. Even with my own kids, for Christmas we always buy them art. So we’re always on the lookout.
Anna’s Marsaskala art studio (address below)
We’ve touched upon the notion of aesthetics here, and how it is being lost nowadays. Aesthetics as the importance and mattering of beauty. Which is definitely in your art, but does it come across to people or do they just look at the painting and move on? What are the dynamics at play here in a way, this might be asking if the viewer is present to the moment and to the painting and what it means.
I think some of my works have an impact on people. When I show my website or if I’m in the room and I see people looking at my painting but they wouldn’t know that it’s mine - you see there’s a moment for them, a second look.
I’m sad at the way contemporary art sometimes is all about shocking the viewer and getting the headlines. And if you have an art gallery or critic who pushes you - you’ve made it. That’s a bit sad.
I think art should be something rich, I mean you can never replicate nature and its brilliance but you can give your interpretation of it and try to elevate it, praise it. With some artists though, even in fashion it’s so depressing; the way they model, the skinny models they use with black under their eyes to make them look like zombies - the fact that they want to show this is sad, rather than being healthy, cheerful, trying not to pollute … But why so angry? It’s depressing.
Sometimes I feel that we focus too much on an issue, and we try to reveal through different media our current state, our reality. But sometimes it’s so much more effective and impactful if we show the reality that should be. Rather than focusing on the same methods, the same conversation - you end up going round in circles.
Like seeing the cup half empty or half full. My motto is ‘smile and the world smiles back’. Even when it’s hard, you can be encouraged to look on the bright side, and that’s what life is all about. Life is too short to make it so unpleasant. It’s nice to celebrate life ... even if I’m just cooking, creativity to me is in anything - the way you dress, what you cook, how you put it on the plate; the content is important, but so is the presentation, so it is well worth your while if you make the effort …
Instead of whatever …
Yes, so that even a simple plate of pasta is transformed - you make a lovely meal out of it, maybe even light a candle, you know.
And that’s what makes it thoughtful and gives it that sense of intention.
Life is all about little moments - and the now, not what happened or what’s going to happen. You can blend aesthetics into these moments.
Even if you have a tiny flat you can still make it really nice by being aesthetically conscious - it’s worth the time.
It changes who you are. What you’re seeing everyday is being reflected back too.
Definitely. At the moment I feel my mind is all over the place, because we’re unpacking, there’s so much that we’ve accumulated whilst living in Dubai, and so you’re always thinking about space and where to put this and that, so the clutter in your brain affects you. And if you have something which is orderly or clear it changes everything. In fact, I’ve hardly painted since we came back.
I feel like there is something missing when I don’t paint. When I paint my mood is sky-high, but when I don’t I feel guilty and in some way unfulfilled.
Yes I understand that, and in a way that’s a beautiful thing to realize and appreciate.
Everyday I tell myself ‘I’m going to paint. I’m going to paint’ but then things come up…
You touched upon something earlier when you were talking about contemporary art, and the difference between Art and art. Where do we stand do you think on that scale? Are we creating more art as opposed to fine art?
Well, art should be accessible to all. My opinion is that good art shouldn’t have to be explained. Like when you see a painting, but unless you know that artist and their context you wouldn’t know its significance. That for me is an issue.
Today, you know with installation art which can be simply amazing and which is there for the public, for everyone to enjoy, that’s fantastic. The pity is that usually, it is eventually removed.
Certain contemporary art is amazing in the sense of the concept and thought behind it and if the public is educated about it, that’s fine. Contemporary art also allows for more of the artist and their style to come out. But again it’s not simply about saying I want to paint an abstract. To me, abstract is the hardest, good abstract at least. To arrive at it you have to be really good.
There has to be a journey behind it, a process.
Yes, in my opinion. It has a lot to do with how you place your stuff, techniques, how loose and creative you are, and good abstract art just happens. There’s a lot of thought behind it and a lot of processes. I do abstracts and I enjoy it - when I have a good result as well as when I don’t. You are the creator, you’re not copying nature though you could be inspired by it but you’re still doing something which you create - that is exciting!
The Vine, watercolour, 30x60cm
What does that give you? What does it mean to you to be able to do that?
I enjoy it a lot. You know it’s not the same as being commissioned. People tell you they want a seascape of St. Thomas Bay, and sometimes that’s a bit stressful because you have to be specific, they have to know it’s St. Thomas Bay. When you’re doing something of your own it’s totally different and once you start you have the energy to go on from one piece to the next. I’m looking forward to clearing the table to start. I am very messy but once I start a creative session I forget time so when I know I have to do something I just set an alarm, because you just forget everything else. It gives you so much energy and then at the same time afterwards you feel drained.
How do you say, it gives you a form of high …
Yes, you’re totally focused on what you’re doing and nothing else matters.
Nothing’s in your mind …
Exactly, you’re free. You’re not worrying about something, it’s liberating as well.
Did it take you a while to get to this stage?
Yes because when you start out you first need to prove to yourself that you can paint. And then you have to prove yourself to others as well. When you start to exhibit and people buy your work, there’s a sense of responsibility as well, that you can keep a certain standard. Once you’re confident of your own skills you can move on. You can be more daring in your own interpretation. I try to give something more to those things which are ordinary.
They’re the things we take for granted too, like the carrots I drew with the roots and foliage, I had always wanted to paint carrots that way and when we were on a plein-air painting spree in Gozo, and on asking a farmer he just plucked them out of the soil, and happily gave me a large bunch of them! I also delight in immersing myself ... zooming in, painting my subjects at times much larger than life. I have to be excited about what I’m painting.
Dangling Carrots, watercolour, 98x62cm Yellow Glow, oil, 120x100cm
Do you have commissioned pieces for which you were given the freedom to paint anything you wanted?
Yes I have. I would first prefer to know more about the persons commissioning the painting and then suggest something which would fit in with their character and their home. I also ask them to look around my studio to see what catches their eye. It’s a nice challenge too when it’s like that.
Can we possibly delve into the notion of the mattering of art in the fact that art is an end in itself - it exists for itself alone and so goes beyond any practical element.
As well … I don’t think it is either or, but rather there’s the part which is practical and that which also goes beyond the practical. You can’t be extreme, you can’t say it’s all black or it’s all white. You have to integrate a bit of both into your life.
And yes in a way if you live it, it’s a means in itself but it’s also a means to an end because you’re using it.
And you’re enjoying it. Like we said, when it’s sad art you’re experiencing it.
And that experience is what you carry with you - a result in a way.
You could say that, yes.
The notion that the point and also (at times) problem of life is to become transparent to transcendence, is that you realise that you are yourself a manifestation of this - in the sense that you live it, you live the art, that you live the divine light within you as a vehicle of consciousness. Simply put this would mean that attaining this is being open to a world, another world beyond speech and words and so open to transcendence. Do you feel these transcendental moments or this transparency through the conditions of art? To me it seems like the purpose at times for the art to be able to deliver such moments, what Joyce calls the ‘aesthetic arrest’ - which in many ways is what your art does; I find I do not want to do anything with the work except appreciate it.
Yes, I think my art is, I try to infuse it with mood and a bit of awe, to give it an aura of something.
Are you transcended in the moment?
I think so … yes. I often play music whilst I’m painting, especially when I’m doing these abstracts or free-flowing stuff then yes you have to be mentally accepting and giving at the same time. You try to imbue the art with your own self, it’s like connecting your brain to your brushes and to focus on that.
Almost like you’re in control but you’re really not.
Exactly. You get into a flow and you have to trust your instincts as well. Guarded at times as well but you also have to be bold. If you try to stay safe, which is very easy to do with watercolours as it’s easy to ruin something, you won’t get the special results that you get from being bold. For me they’re ‘wow’ moments because you’re so pleased with the end result and with yourself because you managed to do something different that also is an exciting process.
What goes through your mind in those moments in which you’re deciding if you’re going to ruin a piece and you stop or you’re going to go for it?
When I think twice I feel disappointed in myself and guilty. But then when I go ahead, even if I ruin it, I’m happy because I’ve been bold and I’ve done it. Sometimes when I’ve ruined it I try to go a bit further to save it, what can you say … sometimes from a mess you can create something beautiful. Or else I start off another one, and you know, you would have learnt from the mess you made before. It would be very boring to just stick to being safe. The excitement and passion comes from when you’re breaking your own rules or you’re doing something which you’ve never done. You can be very loose - and that’s when time flies, you don’t even see it.
I appreciate what you said about the ‘moments of awe’ you create, even because you focus-in on your subject.
Yes.
And that allows the viewer, at least, to experience what you’re doing and what you’ve experienced yourself in a way. I think the style and form allow for that dialogue.
Yes I think that it is translated to the viewer, yes. There’s a mix of detail but also lack of detail, of focus and also of fusing. And then you can also see that I introduce hints of colour and pick it up again in different areas.
I’m lucky that I don’t depend totally on selling my art. There is a lot of money that goes into an exhibition and if you sell 6 of 10 works then you’re probably just breaking even, and that’s not even considering the hours you spend painting. I’m lucky I paint because I want to and it’s what I enjoy to do. If I had to paint to sell that would be very restricting.
Do you think you wouldn’t be doing some of the art you’re doing now, or you would experiment less?
I would probably have to work harder, in the sense of putting in more hours because you have to produce more to sell. But that would be boring for me - because at this stage you’re not always creating. What I personally try to do is paint in watercolour for a certain result, if it’s acrylics the result is different, oils is different, charcoal too … I want to try everything, big and small - I try all scales. I try not to stick with a singular style although a thread does run through my work. It really depends on what’s getting me interested at the moment.
I always keep a sketchbook with me so that whilst I’m home or out and an idea comes to me I can jot it down or sketch it, because if I don’t do it in the moment then it’s gone. Because then you might wonder ‘but why was I so excited to paint this?’, if I have it written down then I’ll know. I like to keep things categorized so my sketchbook has different coloured paper and I draw in it depending on the theme, that’s helpful too. I usually work on the most recent idea I had, but then if I’m working on a particular exhibition then I know one thing leads to another. I am presently working on my next project - Mesmerising Seas or Seħer il-Baħar in Maltese. And then I’d like to do something with the nudes/life figure drawings that I have. People know me for my flora but I’d like to show all these other works that I have - it’s a matter of picking them out really. I paint in oils, acrylics, charcoal … but my favorite medium remains watercolour as I find it the most challenging and to an extent, magical medium. Every composition that I paint is special to me. I choose not to chain my creativity to one particular way of expression and I find that my approach is determined by the medium I select. With watercolour, my art comes out as a vibrant, translucent celebration of light and colour. With oils, the art seems to emerge out of the shadows of a dark canvas.
Yet I always seem to go back to flowers because they fascinate me.
St Thomas Bay, watercolour, 100x70cm Reclining Nude, pastel, 38x50cm
It also keeps it fresh for you to change things up a bit, but then go back to what you love.
When I spend time without painting I then go back with real energy, because the time when you’re not actually painting I know that my brain is consciously working on it.
I think this is what most of us find challenging though, being able to take a hobby, a passion and do what you’ve done - make it a living. How did you do that? What would you recommend to those who might not have as much support but want to do this?
If you really have no alternative then you will make it work. It’s worth looking out for a mentor and an expert in the field of what one plans to do. Even going through books and research helps a lot. That way you’re saving a lot of time, especially time on unsuccessful ventures because you’re going back to people who have experience so you cut the trial period. So be humble, learn from others.
For me it was a hobby at first. I had young kids and since I stopped my career I was able to dedicate more time to drawing and painting. I exhibited two paintings at an event organised by the British Residents’ Association and the organizer out of the blue informed me that I had won the Best Watercolour award. From then on I took my art seriously, I went to workshops, I bought more books, I spoke to other artists and exposed myself to more art. I went on to win other awards, including First Prize in the National Art Competition. Then I decided to do a B.A. in ‘Art and Archeology’, later going on to do a Master’s Degree in ‘Creativity and Innovation’.
So you have to invest in yourself. Join a group of artists and mentor each other. I learnt a lot from the late Harry Alden, and also Anton Calleja, who I used to go to once or twice a week for life figure drawing. It was lovely. Most of us here in Malta know each other and what’s good is that between us there are no inhibitions, we get on well so that’s nice.
A group of us Maltese artists travelled to Fabriano Italy in 2016 to participate at the annual International Watercolour Convention. I was one of the six out of nearly 700 attending watercolourists, who was invited to give a masterclass demonstration to a crowded enthusiastic audience - that was a great experience. I was again a featured master demonstrator at the International Watercolour Convention in Dubai in 2018.
You need to just get out there.
Are you ever inspired by a sentence in a book, or even a whole novel?
Yes, well I think when you’re a painter it’s not just the painting, it’s everything - the literature, drama, performances, singing, music … it all comes together.
This is something I feel should be emphasized in schools here, much more. You derive so much pleasure from art, a nice piece of literature or a poem. We used to learn poems by-heart, yet if you read a poem the right way and there’s no stress and pressure added you can appreciate the work much more. All the arts are tied together.
I think many times today there’s this apprehension and attention placed on getting the answer right or wrong. And in the arts there’s no need for that. In art there’s usually no wrong answer …
Yes well mind you sometimes at school they focus on drawing within the lines and so there’s no blank page, no freedom. Give them something different and creative and the children will react amazingly. Even for kids to be able to go to our heritage sites, or to the Museum of Natural History that is going to make a big impact. That is what education is all about - not knowing things off by rote, but experiencing, feeling, questioning, challenging, igniting a desire to know more.
When I was at university I found it hard to sit down for 2 whole hours, I had to move around. And then I think about these kids who are sitting down for a good 6 hours at school, only to go home and have homework. My grandchildren in Dubai don’t have homework after school, it’s just another system. Here there’s a panic to get the syllabus done and sometimes it’s all too much.
I felt this at university a lot. Instead of inspiring you there’s always this feeling that you need more. Always some other step you need to take to be there. I think sometimes we just need a break (the institution needs to give us a break), we need to be able to do what we studied to do and be happy with that and not aim for the next title for nothing.
Sometimes it’s more important what you do than anything else.
I think that we cannot end off on a better note than that! The most important and possibly brave thing one can do, is to simply do - as Benedict Cumberbatch said: stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder, wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping, confusing, itching, scratching, mumbling, bumbling, grumbling, humbling, stumbling, numbing, rambling, gambling, tumbling, scumbling, rambling, hitching, hatching, moaning, groaning, honing, boning … finger pointing, evil eyeing, back scratching, grinding away at yourself - stop it and just DO!
And Enjoy the Process!
Details
Look out for Anna’s next exhibition: Seħer il-Baħar on at the Malta Society of Arts (Valletta), April 2121.
Anna’s website: www.annagalea.com
Anna’s art studio/gallery: 24, Triq in-Nadur, Marsaskala