Artist Q&A: Alice Boggis-Rolfe

Q&A with Alice Boggis-Rolfe

HCA: How did you get into art?

Most of my earliest memories are based around making things in one way or another. Then when I was fourteen my Dad gave me my first set of oil paints and I’ve never looked back.

HCA: How do you start each piece? Do you generally have an idea about the image you’re going to create before you begin?

Yes but sadly it never seems to quite turn out how I’d expected it to! I’m quite an immediate painter so I don’t tend to visit a site before setting up, I like to get on with it and seize the moment. Often I take photos on my phone and crop them in different ways to help me work out how I will construct the composition then a turpsy muddy wash and off I go.

HCA: What materials do you use and why?

Always oil paints as they can do so much: thin paint, thick paint, transparent layers or; opaque blocks, you name it. I love how versatile they are and use them in different ways depending on what I’m trying to say in my painting. I vary my supports depending on what I’m painting, favouring faster drying gesso panels for plein air work.

HCA: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Nature, gardens, architecture, trinkets, views, all sorts of things. But if I’m feeling uninspired it’s the work of other artists which never fails to get me going. A quick look through one of my books on Vuillard, WIlliam Nicholson or Bernard Dunstan to name a few and I can’t wait to get painting again.

HCA: What’s your studio like?

I’ve spent the last four years chopping and changing for various personal reasons. As soon as I seem to settle something happens and I have to move again! But it’s made me very resourceful. At the moment I’m using the kitchen table and the garden where my husband and I are living during lockdown. But in a month we are moving and I will have a proper space again, I can’t wait.

HCA: Are there any other artists (past or present) that inspire you?

Hundreds, past and present. And for so many reasons, sometimes the way they work, sometimes their subjects and sometimes their work ethic.

HCA: What is it you are trying to achieve in your pieces?

If I knew the answer to this I think I wouldn’t have any reason to carry on painting!

HCA: How do you know when a piece is finished and when it’s the right time to stop?

It’s so hard to tell, but if a painting becomes boring to paint then it will be boring to look at, so I try to stop before I get to that point.

HCA: Are there any other art forms that you would like to try such as sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, painting etc?

Yes! So many! But there is never the time, I really want to do a sculpture course as soon as I can.