Visual Gluttony takes a walk on the wild side with avid nature artist, Riona Twomey Tindal.
VG : Thanks for chatting with us today Riona. You have an obvious passion for the natural environment - flora and fauna. What is it that draws you in ?
RTT : I grew up camping and hiking with my family and friends, and I often explored on my own at the Myall National Park as a child. Watching lots of documentaries also fuelled my passion. The flora and fauna are amazing, they beg to be observed, studied and understood. I often go bush and find a spot, sit quietly and wait. When the fauna appear, I observe...It's like meditating.
Frogs are one subject I chose to study simply because it is a very misunderstood animal - people seem to think (generally speaking) that all frogs are green ! As an interesting side note, there are 230-240 species in Australia alone, and they're all different! They are both difficult to study and easy to observe.
VG : So this love of the outdoors led you to your drawing ? How did you become so proficient ?
RTT : It is not my first love, actually ! Way back in 1987, circumstances found me studying fine arts, and it was there I discovered I had a talent for drawing.....but my first love is science.
VG : Can you describe your creative process ?
RTT : It varies, depending on what I'm doing. If I'm working on a photograph, I tend to work from instinct. I don't stage my photography, I prefer the challenge of capturing that "perfect" shot that comes seemingly out of nowhere.
Illustration, being a different beast, is a more deliberate process that requires a lot of focus and motivation. For me it is very methodical, not creative. My creative outlets are what I term "free" drawing, or painting - either working from a photograph or just my imagination. But always, along this incomplete, 20-year journey through my art, colour is singularly what excites and inspires me.
VG : So you find colour inspiring, but what would you attribute your creative drive to ?
RTT : The search for an escape helps - but really the research for my PhD is driven by a desire to help and guide people wanting to study frogs so I do the very meticulous process of stippling after pencil sketching these frogs. Photography remains my tool for spontaneous expression - I don't know why I don't show my work, but then again they are just for me. I love them. I print and collect them and they're in my boxes at home - perhaps one day they will be on walls.
VG : If you had any advice to offer other emerging artists looking to follow a similar path to your own, what would you tell them ?
RTT : Try everything, do not live in a vaccuum. If you are feeling like it is too much work, try something else until you feel the connection and passion ! I have done a Certificate of Fine Art, Assoc Dip of Fine Art, Certificate of Advanced Drawing, Bachelor of Visual Arts, Advanced Dip of Graphic Design, Bachelor of Natural History Illustration, BNHI with Class 1 Honors, and currently am doing my Phd in Design (in natural history- scientific illustration). It's all about finding where your passion lies, then pursuing it.
VG : How much of an asset/hinderance is your deafness to your art?
RTT : Deafness - yes a big pain if you're attending a regional university, and interpreters are few and far between. No cued speech transliterators - especially in science subjects, which I am very much inspired and stimulated by more than anything ! And Aulsan is a visual language - science is not a visual subject ! When I complete the PhD I will have to think about doing Hons and Phd in environmental science in a uni where there is cued speech transliterators (rare these days).
Finding frogs in the wild is difficult, but I have risen to the challenge with the amazing support of friends who accompany me and find the frogs by echolocation !
Deafness in any setting presents many challenges, but I am a strong person and I get by very well. I have won awards, medals etc, and token as these may be, they provide an affirmation that deafness is not a barrier unless you let it be.
VG : Well said. Are there any other art forms that you indulge in ?
RTT : Yes, definitely ! Watercolour, oils, arcylics, illustration, freehand drawing, mosaics, photography, design, and scultpure. Even drawing up plans for a house or garden - these can be taken to a professional architect/landscaper, often saving a bundle and the professional drawings come back pretty much what I've designed freehand ! I get a lot of good feedback, which is important for anyone putting anything they've created into the public forum.
My biggest passion is colour in any form of art media. I am experimenting with fabric art and buttons at the moment
- a good creative outlet compared to the heavily disciplined scientific illustration (which was largely self taught, as my course taught only basics and then you were expected to develop skills on your own after the premlininary ground work was done).VG : Why do you love to draw frogs so prolifically ?
RTT : Frogs came to my attention when I visited a friend's mother who was doing a Phd on the breeding behaviour of a species called Red Crowned Toadlets. I was so inspired by that and the fact the mother was in her late 40's and didn't let it stop her from starting her degree later in life.
Frogs are a misunderstood and unknown species. The current field guide doesn't offer much by way of a visual guide as it is a heavily text based book. It was lost to a lot of students learning about frogs. Here is an extract from the abstract of my degree. Hopefully it will give you an idea about why I concentrate on frogs, please read on (taken from my Degree work) :
Abstract Proposal:
The aim is to develop the most comprehensive visual field guide to the frogs of New South Wales. Currently, available information on species identification is inadequate and lacks detail that distinguishes the key features of frogs from each other. The information that is available to inform my project is limited to scientific publications and a small number of field guides. I propose to create a practice-led, research based project to use a combination of written information, photographs and illustrations to distinguish similar species and their unique characteristics clearly.
The objective is to provide the reader, either amateur or professional, with the necessary knowledge to determine what traits are exclusive to a single species. The project undertaken focuses on identifying the key features of the amphibians and then illustrating the species. In the conclusion of the degree, there will be a collection finalised of 89 amphibian species found in New South Wales, and the key features supporting the descriptive identification of each species illustrated in a style accepted by scientific standards.
So I am driven by that. I would like to form a bridge between science and art like Leonardo da Vinci did !! What a genius ! Albert Einsten also could draw but not much is known about that. Great scientists drew in the old days before photos, and the skill of observation is just so inspiring - communicating what they studied onto paper.
VG : Wow. Sounds like a lot of work, but also sounds like you have the passion and drive to succeed ! What visually stimulates you ?
RTT : That's easy. How an object is communicated in colour, form and expression in any media.
VG : And finally Riona, what are your hopes for your future as an artist ?
RTT : I hope to set up a studio where students can come and study anything that I am teaching as a hobby, or on a serious level - whatever they choose. I also want to combine my science knowledge with art as well. I am currently teaching at a private studio, concentrating on mosaics and eventually leadlight, painting, and of course drawing !
I would be happy if I am a successful visual communicator in any form - science, art, story telling....I have also completed a course in Childrens' Book Illustration where Shaun Tan inspired me ! His books are wonderful !
I could go on forever explaining my journey, but it is incomplete and neverending ! One day I would dearly love to follow John Wolseley and go bush and illustrate what I see, feel, hear, smell, and observe !
VG : Thankyou Riona. It has been wonderful chatting to you. The Glutton wishes you every success for all your future endeavours !
If you'd like to take a look at Riona's work, or want more information about how to buy one of her drawings, please make contact through enq@pdprovisual.com.au, and the Glutton will forward on your details.
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