We recently connected with Mardell Rampton and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Mardell, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
My post secondary education is in computer science followed by a long career in the telecommunications industry in Canada. While there was definitely accomplishment in building systems and being part of a corporate team, I felt like something was missing. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, only that it needed to be creative in a grounding, nurturing way.
An online class on how to work in a series looked interesting so I signed up, never dreaming where it would lead. In that class the instructor called me an artist – that was a deeply challenging concept for me but I began to explore it. It opened the door to apply for studio space in a working studio space for artists, to enter work in juried shows, to solo gallery shows and eventually to leave my corporate career to become a full time artist. One of the greatest gifts has been to find my voice in creating artwork that is tranquil, serene and uplifting.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I make paintings from cloth to evoke calming sensations in your mind and body. The blue and grey colours here on the West Coast, vividly intense on a summer day, misty and muted during the long rainy winter, are a natural fit to capture these qualities. The fluid linear patterns created during the composition of the artwork create a quiet and grounding rhythm, inviting you to slow down into a relaxing and restorative tranquility.
The paintings are created from cotton cloth I paint using a series of intricate processes. It begins with fixatives to help the pigment bond with the cloth. Japanese seaweed is used to thicken dye paints. Mark making tools ranging from twigs to paintbrushes create texture and movement as the dye paint is applied to the cloth. Finally the cloth rests for 24 hours while the chemical bonding of dye particles to cloth completes.
When people experience my art, the nearly universal response they share with me is the way the artwork encourages them to take a deeply relaxing breath, to release the tension they are holding and allow them to sink in to a feeling of elegant serenity.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My mission is to be of service to people who are looking for something to nourish them on their journey.
First, I want my art to be an object of beauty they have in their life, something visual that gives them a touchstone, a reminder to spend time recharging, to breathe, to reconnect to what grounds them and feeds them.
Secondly, I write a weekly email to my people, called ‘quiet little conversations’ that encourages, inspires and invites them to find ways to purposefully create more serenity and peace in their lives.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, there are two very rewarding parts of being an artist:
I’m always deeply touched when someone shares with me the way my artwork has impacted them.
The second is the gift of creativity itself – after a long career in tech characterized by high levels of stress and high pressure deadlines, it still blows my mind every time I create a painting how the thread, the cloth, the texture, and the colour integrate into this end result that feels so calm, so peaceful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mardellrampton.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mardellramptonart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mardellrampton
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mardellrampton
Image Credits
all images are taken by me