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Artist Statement
I am creating colourful contemporary landscape paintings that convey peacefulness. The incredible natural beauty and views of the Yorkshire Dales inspire me.
Colour choices in the painting:-
I go off the colours I like. This means I combine colour and the patterns in the landscape with the marks I made from my initial study of the view.
Dress colours:-
My chartreuse dress was a colour reference point for 'The Road Ahead' painting. I'm letting you know a bit of the detail. What catches my eye colour-wise doesn't go by me; it goes into my work.
I love my new green dress in the photo on my landscape page so much that it has also influenced a colour in 'The Start of Summer' painting. This is my second time doing this; it may become a thing. I do love colour and dresses. Am I breaking new ground by doing this?
I'm aiming to create the most beautiful original paintings that I'm capable of painting. And I'm also sharing my love of colour with you through these works of art.
When hung in the home, I imagine these paintings as a window into nature & colour; My hope is the picture will uplift your soul, and the colours will immerse & mesmerise you as they do me.
I stop working on a piece when I reach a beautiful point in the painting.
I have been painting and exhibiting for 23 years.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Justine
Testimonials
Jonathan and I have admired and collected Justine’s work for 20 years. We first saw an exhibition of her work and bought several prints, which I regret now, because I wish I had bought ‘Solitaire’ as an original. Amazing energy and grace. We now own 15 Justine originals and we get soul-lifting pleasure from them every time we look at them. My most recent pieces, 'Blue Horse' and 'Love is in the Air' are in being framed at the moment and we can’t wait to get them home and on the wall. Everyone who visits our home are impressed by and comment on Justine’s art. I never tire of her work and always look forward to the next piece.
Mrs. Margo Keating
'Within any decent picture there are lots of key relationships between foreground and background, form and colour, this tree and that person, but the most important relationship is possibly the painter's link to his or her subject. That's where you get the emotion and ultimately the meaning. You only have to think of Gainsborough's painting of his young daughters chasing a butterfly in the mid 1750's, or Constable's Salisbury Cathedral, or even Picasso and his mistresses to get the point. Justine has followed Gainsborough and painted a self-portrait with her children, but in a departure from convention she depicts herself and her nuclear family as doves, in what she calls a protection painting. Her approach to art isn't airy fairy and Justine has also included her Guinness series in the show, illustrating diffferent moments and links forged over a pint of black stuff. 'Friendship' shows two straight glasses, one slightly tilted, painted in a beautiful broad brushstrokes. This not totally still life shows the way friendship blossoms in the haziness of the first pint.'
Jane Hardy , journalist and art critic.
Excerpt from Arts Review of the Relationship Exhibition,
Belfast Telegraph, May 2010.
"Justine is one of the most exciting artists to appear on the local scene in many years. Her current series of nudes painted in a refreshingly naturalistic style demonstrates an aesthetic perception of the human form and places her high on the list of current young artists."
Brian Eakin of the Eakin Gallery, Belfast, commenting on Justine's first solo exhibition, 'The Nude Series,' inspired by Velasquez and Modigliani at Sanctuary Beauty, Belfast, in 2001.
'Justine's paintings are full of soul. Her elephant paintings transformed 'The Elephant Crossing' into a beautifully illustrated book. Each piece of art is unique and perfect to the story. Her originality and her eye for the unusual add extra layers and meaning to her art. If you are looking for a brilliant piece of artwork put a JSW painting on your wall. '
Mrs. Justine McGrath, author
The painting of Pte Derby XX1X; hangs in the anteroom of the 2nd Battalion, The Mercian Regiments Officers Mess, commissioned in 2013 with 50 numbered prints.
"The Mercian Regiment would just like to say what a pleasure it is to recommend Justine. She is so passionate about her art and it reflects in her work and she passes that passion onto you the customer.
Her enthusiasm for life and her art is infectious and her professionalism outstanding.
Her work is different to others out there and no matter what we asked; Justine connected herself to Pte Derby, displaying true emotion and meaning when painting.
If anyone is looking for something different in original art work or prints, just go and see her, talk to her, she is always happy to talk about art, trust me, she will draw you into her world and you will not go home disappointed."
2nd Bn Mercian Regiment
Awards
2007 Awarded a special bursary from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to attend the acclaimed National University of Ireland, Certificate in Youth Arts. She passed with first-class honours.
Justine is delighted to have been Longlisted for The Visual Artist Association Professional Artist Award 2023.
