When looking at contemporary art the eyes are possibly the last organs we are called upon to use. Mere looking is looked down on today as far too unintellectual. From my kitchen sink I have nothing to say about art that does not look beautiful. Tracy Emin’s bed together with the promiscuous lifestyle she likes to boast about leave me cold. It is the same with Damian Hirst’s dead animals – shark, sheep, cow, dissected or otherwise.
I am not interested in the kind of art which is supposed to make important statements on the nature of the universe. I leave that to intellectuals. I love Sue Nightingale’s paintings which do make hidden statementS but which are also simply beautiful. Her favourite metaphor is the horse, winged or unwinged. Hers is a magical, secret world which has depth.
Sue has been living in Gozo with her husband Rick, for thirteen years. She was born in the North of England “of which I am very proud”, she stresses and was educated in a Catholic boarding school in Derbyshire after which she completed a BA in Textile Design from the Manchester College of Art. This took four years to complete, and then she spent a further year completing an art teacher training course. Says Sue: “I was a teacher of art in a secondary school in England, after qualifying and then in a secondary school in Zambia, Africa. On my return, I taught art at the Queens School in Chester for ten years, completing the last four years heading the art department.”
The Nightingales are very much associated with Gozo, mainly through their artist daughter Anna who is a very well known and loved painter and now lives in London. How did they finish up on our sister island? Sue explains that her husband Rick and herself discovered Gozo during those teaching years and completely fell in love with the island and her people. “We bought a very old derelict farmhouse in my fortieth year and since then have built, re-built, added and eventually four years ago split the property in half and sold half to a Maltese architect, Robert Cachia, and his wife, Anna, an established actress. It is in this house that I now paint.”
Considering that both herself and her daughter are accomplished artists, are there any artists in the family as art seems to be in their DNA?
Sue comments: “My mother passed on from cancer when I was seven but I do know that she was very creative and made exceptional dresses, very John Galliano and feminine all rolled into one. I still have some of her creations including a beautiful gold dress which hangs permanently near my wardrobe. My paternal grandfather could also draw beautifully. So the creativity definitely runs in the family.”
I had to admit that though their daughter Anna has featured several times in First magazine when I was editor I did not know that Sue painted as well. Has she been painting for long or is this activity recent and is this her first exhibition? Sue quickly answers: “I have been painting since I was seven and have really never stopped apart from those few precious years when my daughter was very young. I have exhibited in Africa, England, Malta and Gozo but never solo. In fact, the exhibition starting on the 21st February at the Banca Giuratale in Gozo is shared with a friend, the talented artist Rachel Galea.”
Sue’s paintings mostly of horses – many of them winged – are magnificent. What medium does she use? “I paint in a mixture of gouache and acrylics on paper, I also use powder metal paints which I pour onto the paper from the pot. I very often have a good wind behind me from an open window that blows the poured paint in a very soft and natural way onto the colours already applied. I paint with rags, kitchen paper, large brushes, my fingers and hands and tiny brushes for detail work.”
What do her original and beautiful paintings signify? “My paintings are about the journey of life. They always suggest "going somewhere" be it on a horse, a carpet or even along the dotted lines which I have been using a lot lately. One of my wishes is that anyone viewing my work will find themselves creating stories and journeys for themselves.”
As a child Sue loved the idea of flying away on a magic carpet and still, to this day, she imagines herself up there in the clouds, moving fast and with ease, riding a beautiful horse or carpet. She adds: “I am very taken by the words of one of Sarah Brightman's songs on her new album ‘there is a room that floats above the stars’ and these words have inspired me to think of an imaginative dinner party in that room; the guests? They would be the people who have inspired me to keep painting: Cesar Millan (the famous American dog whisperer), for his energy and perception, the designer John Galliano, for his talent and individuality, John Denver, for his poetry, Frances of Assisi, for his personality, Paulo Coelho, for his understanding of life, Mary Wesley, for her ability to tell a good story, Billy Joel the American songwriter for his strength of spirit, and Ralph Lauren, for his style and colour.”
I admire her horses portrayed in a background of vibrant, jewel colours. Most of her paintings have her signature – a vintage/vaudevillian perfume bottle; each horse taking its very own journey to destinations unknown. What inspires her? “Leopard, tiger and zebra patterns I find beautiful and when I use them in my paintings they can easily turn into landscapes, cloud formations, and even tell their own stories. In fact, the background work in my latest collection is completely abstract allowing the viewer to create their own story. I have had beautiful descriptions of lakes, rivers, water falls, mountains, distant views, rocks, hills, storms, even Ramla Bay from people who have viewed them. It's only the horses and feathers and perfume bottles that are painted in a realistic manner.”
In the introduction to her exhibition catalogue, Robin Askwith describes these backgrounds as "sensual horizons and fantastical images". Radu Gheorghe writes: "There is in them an expression of unique spiritual and emotional truth". To quote Jennifer Bonello: "These paintings sum up life with its magical moments, it's pain, grief and beauty. They just spell out life". The artist’s cousin, Dr Caroline Sullivan, sums one painting up perfectly: "I look at the picture and think this is what I want for my son; a life with magic, joy, exultation in beauty and physical prowess. A life where anything is possible."
Sue says she is inspired by music, “the city of Milan, my Audi TT because I feel like Toad of Toad Hall whenever I drive it! I am inspired by charming inspirational people in my life and friendships and I am for sure a dream chaser.”
Sue is a creative person through and through but painting is not the only outlet for her creativity: “I also sew a great deal and have made many costumes for a dance group in Gozo and I still make all my own dresses, mostly in linen and lace, fabrics I buy in London. Making bags is another passion of mine. I will always continue to create in a variety of different materials which all add to my inspiration; papier mâché, leather, fabric, wood, clay and of course paint.”
Discipline is certainly another of this artist’s qualities: “I practice yoga daily; this brings me peace, flexibility and the ability to stand up straight!”
One of Shakespeare’s characters cries out in Cymbaline: “O’ for a horse with wings!” His prayers are going to be answered in Sue Nightingale’s forthcoming exhibition.
Sue Nightingale’s joint exhibition with Rachel Galea, Two of a Kind, at the Banca Giuratale in Gozo opens on 21st February and closes on 9th March.)