Meet Artist Justine Patemen

I've always loved to draw but never had any confidence in what I did. All my friends always got pictures and painted items for birthdays but that was about it. Then I had breast cancer and it made me realise that life is just way too short to worry about what people think. So the day I finished treatment I bought myself a lovely watercolour set. 2 days later we went on a family holiday to Lanzarote and while the children played I could sit and paint (I painted my red hibiscus flower logo while sitting in a play area at Playa Blanca). I loved it. when we got back I put my paintings on facebook and straight away got my first commission. So I set up Jakeart1 and I've been getting busier ever since. It's ideal as I can work around our 3 children (1 girl and 2 boys ages 12,10 and 9) and looking after my poorly mum.

When I look back at my early work I can see how much I have improved but I know I can always get better and I keep trying. I mainly use acrylics or pen and watercolours, although I can also do pencil drawings or watercolours. I also paint on a range of surfaces not just paper and canvas. I really love painting on stones - each one is unique and becomes a miniature piece of art - and I love painting on slate and wood.

In my spare time I love to read and watch sci-fi films with my kids which gives me lots of ideas. Most of all I love painting animals. I really love painting all that fur - the scruffier the better - which is why I like painting hares. A customer once told me my animals were whimsical which I think is a good way to describe them. I try to give them character and I always get the eyes done first as then I know what their character is. One of the fun things I do for me is steampunking animals. That really lets my imagination run riot. A lot of these I do in pen and watercolour with gouache highlights ( I call this my splashy scribbly style - I don't know if it has a technical term - I've always just made things up as I go along as I'm self-taught) but sometimes I paint these in acrylics - I think a well dressed steampunk animal has such great character. My head is always full of ideas and I always run out of time to do them all! I do commissions too and I've always got a few commissions on the go (I'm a firm believer in having lots of works in progress!). I get asked to do a huge range of things from portraits, pet portraits, fantasy pictures to bags and name plaques.

Links

I am on facebook www.facebook.com/Jakeart1

Etsy www.etsy.com/shop/jakeart1

Twitter @justine_pateman

instagram @jakeart1

also I have a website www.jakeart1.com