Heather Southerland-Wade

Heather Sutherland Wade is an artist living and working on Stony Hill, St. Andrew. Her entry in the exhibition Jamaican Biennial 2006 is titled 'From the Hills'. Today, she discusses her work with Dr. Jonathan Greenland, Executive Director of the National Gallery of Jamaica.

GL: Please describe your piece, From the Hills?

HW: Usually I paint these landscapes when I am inspired by God's handiwork. I get overwhelmed by it and I am moved to record it on canvas. I am very appreciative of the beauty of our country. I am going through a period now when I just want to minimalise the detail, so you'll notice there is an absence of the usual fauna and flora that I put into my landscapes. There is a focus on shape, colour and texture. Most of my landscapes are becoming more like this. This one is a painting of the hills near Newcastle.

Are you an open-air painter?

No, I am a social painter! I need people around me which I think is a bit unusual. I need company all the time. I don't enjoy being isolated. So my studio sits right on my verandah overlooking the city. And oftentimes my daughter is beside me painting as well and my husband is walking past or sitting there reading to me or talking to me while I paint. Most times when I am driving around the countryside I will take photographs of something I see. Unfortunately, I cannot capture on camera what I see with my own eyes - I'm not that good at photography and I see a lot of colour that is not captured in photographs. So the photographs are a record of basic shapes and scenes. Then I paint in my studio here on Stony Hill where I am surrounded by hills - all around me are these gorgeous hills - so I do not find it hard to paint scenes like this.

What are your greatest artistic influences?

I like the simplicity of George Rodney and his use of colour. I also like P.J. Stewart's work - especially her use of colour and detail - and I love her textures. I don't have any specific interest in anything realistic. If anything it is the more abstract work I look at. I really like Rothko's simplicity and colour, especially his later work, not his early ones. But I think the greatest influence came from 'The Group of Seven' in Canada where I studied, especially their use of colour in landscapes. I had one of them as an instructor, Mr. Kerr, but it is many years ago now! But I didn't study painting in college, you know, I studied graphics and advertising art mainly because I didn't want to be an artist. My Dad had totally turned my mind away from being an artist. He discouraged me completely in high school. I wasn't allowed to paint or draw at home or do anything artistic. He didn't want me to be an artist - his idea of an artist was someone who becomes a hermit and has a crazy lifestyle and he didn't want his daughter to be like that. But he died just before I left high school and that's when my art career started. I decided to do dance and I received a scholarship to study art in Canada, even though I didn't want to be an artist and I told everyone I'm not studying art, I am studying advertising art. But I always had an innate ability to paint and I enjoyed it.

What do you think of the Jamaican art scene?

It is very vibrant for a small island like ours. It is really encouraging to see how much interest and appreciation there is for art, from the simplest to the highly educated. But it can be improved - many young people need to be taught how to make a career out of art. I'm particularly thinking in terms of craft. And I can see people going around the island, to different pockets and villages, teaching new skills. There is so much innate talent, but new craft and artistic methods would help the young to focus. Just as we do for sport, we should do for art.

What has been your greatest moment of artistic achievement?

Bringing my family to a point where they can now appreciate art - and this means the entire extended family! From being able to say, What's that? to I like that? And generally helping everyone to appreciate art, taking time to explain to them what's going on.

So, it took a while, did it?

Yes, it took all these years. I've been getting there, with some faster than others. But generally I would say that the appreciation for fine art in my family is extremely high compared to what it was 30 years ago.

Where do you see your work in five years?

I'd like to establish myself internationally, the States and Europe. I would like to have a studio abroad.

Jamaica Biennial 2006 runs through March 12, 2007. Please call the National Gallery at 922- 1561 for more details or email: natgalja@cwjamaica.com.