Talking Points: Vanessa Gardiner

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How can we develop sketches into finished work?

Interested in the angular, architectural qualities of the landscape, Vanessa Gardiner draws directly in situ before developing paintings from these studies in her studio. Her process involves abstracting from her drawings, painting, sanding back, and painting over again, from which patterns gradually begin to build. She wants viewers to be transported to a place they may have experienced themselves, whether inspired by her landscape or one from their own memory. 

Watch the video below and answer the following questions to explore Vanessa Gardiner’s work.

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Vanessa Gardiner

“As a landscape painter I am captivated both by the beauty of the places on which my work is based and by the processes involved during the making of the pictures. In a sense, for me, they go hand-in-hand: the immediacy of drawing directly from the seemingly haphazard natural subject matter, with the careful selection and ordering of the compositions back in the studio.” – Vanessa Gardiner

Questions to Ask Children

Do you like Gardiner’s linear approach to landscape painting?

What does the texture add to the painting?

Does this make you think about landscapes differently?

How do the paintings make you feel?

What kind of atmosphere(s) does Gardiner capture in the painting(s)?

This Talking Points Is Used In...

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see