RURAL magazine has a strong interest in art that portrays the traditional aspect of the Island’s landscape and in the Jersey artists who paint it. This week ANITA RIVE introduces herself and her art
I am a local artist, born and living in Jersey.
My painting does take up quite a lot of my time, but I am also a musician and play with two local bands, Parish 13 and The Balafonics, playing percussion, flute and balafon, and we perform at local events and in France and Sark.
My partner, Graham, and I are lucky to have been ‘adopted’ by a little Spanish rescue dog called Idris and we spend lots of time outdoors walking and enjoying the coastline of this beautiful Island. Graham and I both play guitar and we enjoy sitting on the beach at St Ouen or Petit Port at sunset to have a BBQ and play. I also love to cook Asian and French food, but my cake making skills leave a lot to be desired! We both love to travel and hopefully this winter, we will be able to take our camper van to the continent for the winter where I can spend more time painting the very different but equally beautiful landscapes that are in Portugal and Spain.
I have always painted, as a child and through my school years into my teens. However, when I got married and my children were born my Art became less of a priority and being a busy working mum, my time was filled.
My background is in the finance industry, where I worked for 20 years in Insurance and Trust Administration and prior to that, I worked as a personal assistant at Huelin-Renouf Shipping and then for The States at Jersey Airport and Jersey Harbours. I left the finance industry in 2016 through ill health. It was whilst I was signed off for five months that I took up painting again. I was very bored being alone at home for weeks on end and painting helped enormously with my mental health and ultimately to my recovery.
I started by painting small pebbles and giving them away to friends. This led to people asking for certain things to be painted on pebbles for birthday and Christmas presents and people offered to pay, so I started taking a few commissions. I can paint most things from a photograph, be it a property, a pet, a favourite or important place etc. Sadly, I do get asked to paint a lot of dogs that have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and are no longer with us….
Since I started in 2016, my work has developed enormously and I use new techniques, working with watercolour, acrylic and ink and also new mediums to paint on. In addition to pebbles, I have recently been painting on slate and larger rocks and I have recently sourced some very large pieces of ‘stand alone’ Jersey granite which I have been working on. I varnish all of the pieces so that the painting is protected and the colours keep their vibrancy, although I would say that my pieces are intended for display indoors rather than outdoors, but I am currently looking into a product that would seal the artwork so that it could be displayed outdoors as a house name, or some artwork for the patio or garden.
For the last five years, I have worked for Jersey Heritage as a Visitor Services Assistant during the summer season. Being a Jersey girl, I am passionate about my Island, its history and heritage. Jersey Heritage are the guardians of some of our most prominent and oldest heritage sites. These sites are so beautiful and a delight to paint and certainly combined with the Jersey granite are a reminder of how lucky we are to live in such a stunning island with so much history and beauty on our doorstep. I feel very lucky to be able to paint pieces that people really enjoy and some of which are very personal and sentimental to them and the joy on their faces when they see the finished product really does make it so worthwhile.
This is the reason that I am currently in the process of arranging an exhibition of my work in one of the local galleries. I think it is important that Islanders appreciate how vital it is not only to maintain these amazing sites for future generations, but also to enjoy them as a place of beauty and a portal of information and education into our rich history that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
The exhibition will be called “Jersey’s Heritage – Set in Stone” and I think the Jersey Heritage sites will look amazing on these large pieces of Jersey Granite. I am very excited as this is my first exhibition of my work and I am looking forward to sharing these pieces with the public so that they can enjoy a little piece of Jersey Heritage in their homes. The exhibition will be early next year, so watch this space!
If you are interested, please contact me on 07797 827870 or by e-mail.’
