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City Life talks to Amanda
Clegg, a portrait artist and
illustrator who lives and
works in Canton, Cardiff,
about life, art, creepy toys
and everything in between.
SELF PORTRAIT
What is your background?
I grew up in the Lancashire mill town
of Burnley in the 70’s where we lived
in a two up, two down, terraced house
with no bathroom! When I was 7 my
Mum took me and my brother to
London where I discovered the delights
of art galleries and Museums. We didn’t
have those up North! The culture shock
was very exciting. The smell of the
polish they use to buff the parquet
flooring thrills me even today. After a
year of being a ‘Londoner’, hotel
hopping and loving every minute of it,
we were forced to return to Burnley.
But I had been introduced to the art
world and there was no going back. I
was the artistic sibling, always drawing
and making stuff out of whatever I
could find. I drew on the bit of
cardboard that came packaged with
new shirts, I made birds from egg
cartons and real pigeon feathers, whole
families out of toilet roll tubes. No
Playstation in them days!
I did an arts foundation course to see
which discipline was for me. This
turned out to be in Theatre. So I
abandoned art to study Theatre Design
at the Welsh College of Music and
Drama here in Cardiff. I did TV Prop-
Making and Scenic art for 10 years,
then came back to art after getting fed
up of constantly dragging myself home
after 10pm covered in polystyrene and
smelling of latex and acetone and
nursing endless broken nails!
I even dabbled in game design where
I was briefly a company director along
with a bunch of mates. Together we
were ‘Hounds by the Basketful’. We
finally decided on that name after one
or two pints of Guinness! We did a lot
of filming on location dressed up in
costume, often in the pouring rain at
6.30am, pulling in favours from actor
friends to create the video board game
‘G.O.O.T’. (Get Out Of That)! That was
fun! I could name-drop some of the
actors we used, but I won’t!
What type of artwork do you do?
Portraiture, of any description. The face
mesmerises me. I catch myself staring
at people’s faces when they are talking
to me. I may become distracted by how
the light is catching their philtrum or
the reflection in their iris or how the
pigment of the skin changes when it
gets thinner around the eye. I hope I
don’t make people too uncomfortable
when I do this. I am listening to what
they are saying, honest.
I work from photos, although I do not
see the point in reproducing a photo
exactly - you may as well have it
enlarged. I particularly enjoy painting
portraits in an historical style. I like to
make it fun and introduce a more
theatrical element into a commission.
I’ve combined my theatrical propmaking
background with oil painting to
produce what could be described as
ancestral portraiture. I even go so far as
to distress the finished piece... dirty it
down to give the illusion of age. It’s all
part of the fun.
Contemporary dress works just as well
as historical costume if that’s not
required. It’s the feel of an historical
portrait, which I aim for. I particularly
like the way that artists used to
celebrate the sitter and their profession
or life, by incorporating objects, tools
or a particular scene in the background.
Almost like little codes for the viewer
to work out.
I like to have a brief background of the
person I am painting. Their likes, their
dislikes, what their interests are etc. It
helps me to get closer to the sitter.
Painting someone’s portrait is quite an
intimate process and I sometimes miss
them when they (the portrait) go.
As a contrast, I also do digital portraits.
These are more like graphic novel
characters. They are a lot of fun to do
and a bit more affordable as a present. I
use Photoshop, which I adore! I can’t
imagine life without it. Illustration
would certainly be more difficult. It
pains me to think back 10 years ago
before I was introduced to it, unable to
edit my work.
How much is an original?
It all depends on what the client wants
and also their budget. I can cater for all
pockets. My digital portraits start at
£70, my oils start at £200. The prices
go up depending on how much detail
the client wants.
Who buys your work?
Customers mostly contact me via my
website. What a wonderful invention!
Past clients have included historical
re-enactors, hotel proprietors, actors,
judges and QC’s and anyone who wants
a really special present for a friend,
family member or even perhaps a work
colleague.
Who or what inspires you?
I adore Medieval, Flemish and
Renaissance portraiture and also
Fayuum (Egyptian/Roman Mummy
portraits from the 2nd Century). They
send shivers down my spine. I could
spend hours at the National Gallery
staring for ages at each painting in turn.
Never visit an art gallery with me;
you’ll get so bored!
My heroes are Jan Van Eyck, Hans
Holbein, Lucas Cranach, Albrecht
Durer, Hans Memling, Rian Hughes,
Jamie Hewlett, Mark Ryden, Michael
Hussar, Dasha Shishkin and Yoshitomo
Nara to name but a few.
I hear your work has appeared
on television
Recently I painted the actress Sophia
Myles as Madame de Pompadour for the
BBC’s Doctor Who. Unfortunately it
wasn’t possible to photograph the lady
herself in full wig and costume, so I had
to make do with reproducing one of
Boucher’s paintings and use a publicity
shot of Sophia as reference. It’s not an
ideal way of working, but I was very
happy with the end result and it proved
to be a very enjoyable commission and
a hit with many Doctor Who fans.
Now, if I had been the artist who was
asked to paint Colin Firth as Mr Darcy,
I would have insisted on a sitting!
What do you do when you’re not
painting?
Gardening, hill walking, surfing the net,
playing with our new cat Lupa and I
love trawling car boot sales to collect
bizarre, creepy old toys. I have a few
displays around the house of my ‘finds’.
I also collect Mexican retablos and
sleazy pulp novels from the 60’s - not
for the contents you understand, more
an appreciation of the graphic art
quality of the covers.
Now I’m a slave to the god of D.I.Y.
I’m quite proud of our refurbished
bathroom and frequently drag guests
up to it even before they have taken
off their coats.I think if I could change
my career at the flick of a switch I
would do up old, crumbling houses.
I’m a sucker for a make-over.
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