Hayley Lander (Class of 2010) – speaks to senior visual art students about being an artist

Hayley is a highly successful painter who currently also works in a commercial gallery. Hayley was very informative and gave the students an insight into what you might expect if you choose to study visual art at a tertiary level. She studied at ANU School of Art and really enjoyed the studio environment and said ‘You really get to find your style surrounded by other passionate up and coming artists’.

Hayley has an impressive record, having won many different art prizes, residencies and scholarships and has been accepted into programs to further improve her skills. She talked about her passion for the natural environment and how important finding inspiration is when creating meaningful artworks. She is often inspired by walking in the bush. She shared with students the importance of experimenting with ideas and using different media to further your art practice.

Her artworks are not only visually impressive but the ideas behind them are meaningful and shed light on matters such as our changing environment and the urban development of Canberra. She shared her tips on different painting techniques and using different supports on which to paint, such as wood and aluminium, instead of traditional canvas. Her knowledge of colour-mixing using oil paint was particularly useful as the majority of her paintings are realistic. This sharing of technical knowledge was particularly timely for the class as the Semester 2 unit is ‘Painting’. So far, the class has all completed small realistic still life paintings using gouache and have just started using wax to create abstract landscapes using the encaustic technique on wooden panels. Next, they will be painting in oil paint before they begin their major work.

Hayley was very generous in sharing so much about her work and life, even bringing in some of her special paintings so the students could closely observe the surface and texture in her work.