Beth Louella has worked as an artist and illustrator for many years having studied art at school, art college and university up to post graduate level. Beth has a BA Hons in Visual Communication, specialising in Illustration and for a while the majority of Beth's work was illustration based, in recent years this has changed to the vast majority of her work being fine art based. We caught up with Beth recently in the wake of her recent Afriom set of portraits illustrating a unique take on contemporary Manx culture.
Q. How would you describe your art style in general terms?
My art style generally includes limited tone, strong line and often vibrant colours and pattern. I work with a range of traditional art media and often use digital media in the process.
Q. You've recently done a series of artworks called Afriom for Culture Vannin as part of their Treisht projects. What inspired the project?
I had worked on a first round Treisht project creating ink drawings in response to The Traditionary Ballad, Culture Vannin were a pleasure to work with and I was keen to work with them again. There was an option to submit your own proposal for a Treisht project so I submitted my AFRIOM Portraits idea to the second round. I hoped such a positive, relevant project that linked strongly with culture and heritage would be selected, and I’m very pleased it was!
Q. The pieces reflect the diversity of cultures existing on the island as well as exploring the fusion of Manx identity with African heritage – why do you think that this was an important aspect of contemporary island culture to highlight?
I love that there are so many people with connections to the Isle of Man spread across the world and many countries are represented here on the Island. I think these connections enrich culture and are something to celebrate and communicate about. Following on from the death of George Floyd in the USA, the global racism protests and ranging views expressed here, it felt especially important to me to celebrate our Island’s diversity and our commonality, particularly our shared Manx identity. My art is celebratory, focuses a lot on people and often has key themes of heritage, culture and identity so the project developed naturally.
Q. How have you used colour, visual and written references in each portrait to reflect the background and personalities of each sitter?
To link with each sitter’s Manx identity I limited the main colours in the paintings to the Manx National Tartan (original version) which consists of green for fields and valleys, light blue for the sky, dark blue for the sea, purple for heather, red for fuchsias, white for cottages and yellow for gorse with shades altered to work best in the artworks. After interviewing each sitter and working through images, I decided on specific colour options for them and developed obvious and subtle visual references in each painting. The patterns include elements from the Isle of Man and the African country each sitter is connected with. The words in the paintings come directly from each of the islanders in our interviews, include lines from the Manx National Anthem chosen specifically for them and reference the Isle of Man (IOM) and each African country. There is more information about each painting on my website and on Culture Vannin’s website also.
Links: https://www.bethlouella.com/?s=AFRIOM
https://www.culturevannin.im/watchlisten/imagearchive/afriom-portraits/
Q. What kinds of challenges have you faced this year as an artist living through a pandemic and how have you overcome them?
Projects being cancelled and postponed at the start of the pandemic was very challenging. I had just started creating ink drawings with positive messages (Honest Joy Ink Drawings) when the first lockdown came so I went on to create more of these which I offered as free colouring downloads to encourage others. I’m aware that alongside individuals connecting with the project globally, a number of schools across the UK did too and included the art in their home learning packs. I took part in online exhibitions including #artheals30in30 and when I heard about Portraits for NHS Heroes (a project where artists paint portraits of NHS keyworkers for free as a sign of appreciation) I got involved straight away. I applied for a range of art opportunities once they became available and used the additional time I had to experiment and develop my art. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I have received which have developed and broadened my art further and are leading to more opportunities. Thinking creatively, being brave and making the most of opportunities has certainly helped me this year.
Q. What is next for you?
I’m currently working on multiple projects including one with support from the IOM Arts Council which involves creating vibrant artworks celebrating something positive discovered / appreciated during Covid-19 times, especially during lockdown. The area I’m focusing on at the moment is the positive impact of the BLM protest of solidarity held in Douglas. I have a number of exciting new projects in the pipeline, private commissions and ongoing self-initiated projects including art celebrating historical heroines.
Q. Where can we stay up to date?
My website www.bethlouella.com has a regularly updated online gallery and shop plus links to my social media and a news feed. My social media has a lot of behind the scenes footage and features a range of recent artwork.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethlouella
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beth_louella_art/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethlouella_art
Tumblr: https://beth-louella-art.tumblr.com/
