Our Head of Art Luke Baker recently had the privilege to sit down with Little Van Gogh artist Sally Newton, where they discussed the ability of art to uplift us and the sense of calm she feels when she creates new work.

Why do you make art?

That’s a good question! Personally, I feel it as a sort of compulsion to make art and if I’m not working, I’m considerably less at ease. That restlessness tends to quiet the moment I load my brush with paint. There’s something deeply grounding and fascinating about that simple act.

I feel a sense of duty as well to capture landscapes, light, colour as they happen, to recognise that they were there and are part of this strange set of collective circumstances we find ourselves in that led us to all be on this earth at this moment.

On a broader level, I think art speaks to something fundamental in us. I felt this especially during the isolation of COVID — how much we leaned on the arts to uplift us, to bring lightness and beauty into our homes, and to reflect, in subtle and powerful ways, the strangeness of what we were living through.

Where do you find inspiration?

My favourite place to paint is a local organic farm on the Wiltshire / Hampshire border, called The Cholderton Estate where I am artist-in-residence. They embrace natural ways of managing the land, so wildlife and wildflowers thrive, and it retains much of the essence of its Victorian working farm heritage. I can see paintings everywhere there and I don’t think I’ll ever exhaust the inspiration I see in their fields.

Artist often evolve with their work as they make new exciting discoveries – How has your practice changed over time?

I studied Fine Art (Printmaking) at Cambridge School of Art at a time when more conceptual art practices where being embraced. The course sat somewhere between understanding the traditional, technical aspects of printmaking and modern art teaching. As I began my art career beyond university though, the immediacy and connection of oil painting grew more interesting and that has occupied much of my work since.

I’m still utterly in love with drawing too. I often use ink and a dip pen to make drawings and I’m always considering how I can express my work in different ways. I don’t ever want my work to stay static, I’d like it to keep evolving.

Who are your biggest artistic influences?

So many! I love Van Gogh and Schiele for their utterly brilliant expressive paintings. I always look to Maggi Hambling and Tracey Emin for their art, discipline and thoughts on their practice. Cy Twombly too for his loose brilliance.

My most recent inspiration came from seeing Lawrence Edwards exhibition at Messums Wiltshire, where I loved drawing his huge, bronze sculptures.

Sheep Field

Lines

Does creating art help you in any other areas of your life?

The opportunity to work with other brilliant artists, students, gallerists and collectors is a huge perk. Conversations always seem to spark new inspiration, that wouldn’t otherwise come about when I’m working on my own in the studio so I’m very grateful for my artist community.

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

‘Don’t be afraid of a pencil’, said to me when I was small by my artist mother. I expect I was tentatively making softly drawn marks on top of each other which makes for an unsure and unconfident drawing in my case. I make very definite lines now when I draw!