Lori BENTLEY - South Africa

Why do you like watercolour ?
I like to be able to get immediate results when I have the urge to paint.  I run my own design agency and am a single mom of three. There is no time to laboriously prepare canvases and paints. If I get the time to paint, I need to be able to do it easily. I started off learning all about watercolour in my first year at art college, but then we moved on to more “serious” mediums on canvas and watercolour got forgotten. I love drawing, and being able to see the artist’s mark in the work. Watercolour allows all of those things to happen, sometimes in an incredibly scary and uncontrolled way.

Favourite colour ?
This is so difficult… in watercolours, I love Windsor and Newton Indigo. In life? It changes. At the moment in South Africa, we are reaching the end of the Jacaranda season. I have had a few early morning drives when the sun is not up yet, but the predawn light seems light purple as you drive under the trees. I love jacaranda colour at the moment,  autumn colours in autumn and the clear blue, ochre and terracotta combination of winter on the Highveld.

Favourite painter ?
Why must I choose? Like colours, I have many favourites. I love Gauguin’s use of colour, Matisse’s shapes, Monet’s genius, Jim Dine’s hearts…. The list is endless

If you were a painting what style of painting would you be?
A chaotic one

What has been your biggest challenge in painting watercolours?
Loosening up. My drawing/illustration instincts kick in and I have to stop myself from panicking about how the paint doesn’t look right.

Where is your favourite place to you paint?
Anywhere with my sister, Vandy Massey. We paint wherever we meet up. Most memorably on a holiday in France... we had so much fun “flinging paint”.

Who has inspired you?

See answer above 

Blog: http://www.loribentleyart.com/