Lara Ford

Australia-based artist Lara Ford is both a master muralist and a brilliant painter. Whether on a wall or a canvas, her work has a dreamlike charm that will effortlessly win you over.

What song or image would you use to describe your paintings?

Shake it off - Florence and the Machine

I think all of us artists have things rattling around inside us that need to be let out!

What/who inspires your work?

There are so many! Modern Artists: Desmond Sweeny, Tahnee Kelland, Robin Eley, Ash Holmes, Jeremy Geddes and Joel Rea are my favorite artists. Desmond was the reason I gave mural work a go. My long term goal is to move toward antique murals.

I love traditional European art. Anything dark and moody.

Describe your earliest memories of art. 

When I was 4 years old my brothers girlfriend gifted me a pop up book of Monet’s garden with pictures of his garden and art. It had a pop up Monet’s studio and I would leave it open and imagine myself painting there. I treasured that thing. To this day I love Monet and gardening. 

Did you always know you wanted to be an artist (specifically a painter)?

Yes!! I decided when I was six. We lived in Holland for a while, and my parents took me to the Rijks museum.

I remember staring up at a HUGE painting - at least 2 stories high, and knowing I had to paint for the rest of my life.

I never believed it was possible though and wasn’t until my husband bought me a book of my favorite street art that I began to realize that people do this for a living.

Has your artistic style changed over the years?  How?

Yes and no. I think I am still finding my feet as an artist. If you ask me what I paint or what style I paint in I couldn’t give you an answer. If I look at an old painting to one now - there are definitely huge improvements, but in terms of style - I still see something in the work like a signature that’s mine, for sure. When I lived in New Zealand I focused on florals (I was a florist) and NZ scenes. When I moved to Melbourne I became more interested in painting people and began experimenting with styles and colours more.

Do you have a particular routine that gets you in the creative space before working? 

I need to eat before I do anything haha. Then coffee. I like to give my brushes and pallet a clean while looking at my WIP visualizing my next move, and listen to some music that resonates with my mood. Only after that I have aligned myself and am ready to paint. I also need to make sure I have properly brushed and tied back my hair. I can’t paint with messy hair!

You create beautiful large scale murals in addition to smaller paintings. How did you begin painting murals?  

Is your creative process different depending on the scale of the work?

I’ve always wanted to paint large scale artworks and felt restricted by the size of a canvas. I think mural work and paintings have a symbiotic relationship for me but yes the process is vastly different. I took a break from my work in medical after buying our first house, and as a bit of self care decided to have a crack at painting a mural in my guest bedroom. Half way through a friend saw it and asked me to paint her kids rooms, then another friend, and it went from there. I still haven’t finished the guest bedroom two years on haha and being busy is a nice problem to have. Now that I feel unrestricted by the size of mural painting (which is all about layers and good planning) I am drawn back to oil paintings as the boundaries of a canvas have become an important part of an artwork rather than something fight against, and is a far more intuitive process. I love the free feeling a mural gives me due to size but love painting intuitively on canvas more. 

What is your favorite piece that you’ve created?

Aw that’s a hard one. They say an artists work is never done and there aren’t many I feel super comfortable with because I only see what I want to change. I think Sampas tiger party would be my favorite. It is a complete detour from my usual moody or refined style of painting and was literally just a matter of my paint brush taking me on a journey - complete intuition and no thinking. It was miles of fun and I’m obsessed with the colours and love that it happened because of a date night with my hubby. It always makes me smile. 

I am also working on a portrait of my husband and it’s very dramatic and moody. I’m very excited about this one, and if it continues going as well as it has I will be very proud of it by the end.

How do you conquer creative blocks? Do you believe creativity comes naturally or is it something you work towards? Is there a recurring element or theme that inspires your work?

Creative blocks. I tackle them differently depending on the situation. If I don’t know where to start, I allow myself to be inspired by someone else’s artwork (usually abstract) and have a crack at a similar style before rolling back into my own artwork. It seems to blow out some cobwebs and bring me back to myself. If I am needing inspiration for a project or commission, i just start drawing and keep going until I develop an idea. If I am working on a painting and the feeling isn’t there - I stop immediately and come back when I have found it again. But either way, I make myself draw or paint something every day. 

Does CREATIVITY come naturally?

Hmm. I used to believe so. But I’m starting to realize that my work is a series of observations and decisions. Even intuitive ones.

So I think I am moving toward it being more of a desire to apply yourself to create good work, as opposed to any natural talent. The better you develop your skill for observation and application, the easier it will be to develop your skill as a painter.

Recurring element: Yes! All the paintings I produce are inspired in some way or another by my experience with love. My murals are more created by design with intention and purpose, and I simply enjoy the process of painting them. All my other artworks stem from somewhere deep in my heart. A moment, a memory, a feeling or a concept revolving around some form of love.

Is there anything you would like people to know about your work?

Only just to not take my artwork for face value and to think about how the name of the artwork reflects the symbolism in the image. I don’t aim to paint pretty pictures although I try to make them work for in the home as well. I really want to relay a message, a feeling or a thought to the viewer. I’m an advocate through and through.

Best advice someone has given you regarding your career as an artist?

Probably two things, both of which I heard from an artist conference last year called The Artist Path set up by Rachelle Dusting here in Perth. The panel discussed the importance of just starting. Even when we feel completely stuck or creatively flat. The other was that as a practice, it’s ok to take breaks, it’s ok to say no and it’s ok to go back to employment for a while - it doesn’t mean you have failed as an artist. It was comforting to hear from other artists that we all experience ups and downs in our career, even when our energy and skill is at its best we might not make sales, and we don’t have to follow a formula - we can make our arts practice whatever we want it to be. That success as an artist doesn’t mean constant sales or thousands of followers. But consistency definitely has value to you as an artist. Learning those things took all the stress out of my practice and I am more focused on enjoying the journey and i think it shows in my new pieces. 

 

Find more of Lara and her work: https://www.laraford.com.au/