Since Eli Acheson’s early years she knew she wanted to be an artist, it was a dream she managed to fulfill. Over time she managed to gain Fine Art degrees, awards, and has given lectures about art in many countries like Poland, Italy, France, UK, and Saudi Arabia.

What’s Up: Your résumé is very impressive, with all the degrees, awards and both solo and group exhibitions. What got you into art in the first place?

Eli Acheson: The education system in the UK allows children to get involved in art from a very young age. Also my mother was a musician and a nature lover, so there was a focus on the creative side of life, since she encouraged us to observe and enjoy the natural world that was all around us, living in the countryside. Every week she would take me and my brother on a long country walk, where we would collect things to bring back to the house – flowers, leaves, mushrooms or fossils. My brother used to spend hours identifying things from books, but I would sit and paint them. I can’t remember the exact age where I found myself drawing or creating things, but I remember it was very young.

WU: From your perspective, what do you think is the main trigger to create art? Is it interaction with nature? Or is it an everlasting pursuit to mimic our surroundings?

EA: Well speaking for myself, it has always been an undeniable urge that has to be answered. You feel you must go and make some art, so you do it. Certainly for me there’s an element of wanting to celebrate and go deeper into the natural world, but this is joined with making a spiritual connection. And rather than any kind of mimicry, it’s more like you’re trying to interpret something inside your soul, and while doing that you’re learning how to translate it throughout your life At times you feel that you don’t want it, you don’t want that feeling or that urge, often it keeps you away from sociable activity, since you have to take private time for yourself to work on this translation. You are alone with your work, finding your path, trying to describe your human state. But the dialogue that you have with the painting while you are doing it is very strong, very compelling and rewarding.

Interestingly enough, coming to Saudi Arabia helped me see that path. Right now I can say that I found my direction. This country has given me a lot in terms of inspiration, so this was a gift that I never expected. It has been very exciting artistic discovery to make that turning point here.

WU: Once you get that urge to create art, how would you know which medium to use? How would you know that you want to create a painting, a sculpture, or even a photograph?

EA: By nature, when you are hungry you seek food, it is as simple as that and you know yourself what it is that you need to eat. So it is a bit like this when you want to make your art.

I find my true language in very light fluid forms, the oil paintings you see around you right now are extremely fluid, I don’t use brushes, since I work with a highly liquid state. Even with my photography I use movement to create that same effect of lightness and fluidity. If I am working on a painting which has a starting point in the sensations of standing in the desert, then I will have looked for a way to have the paint move like the wind on my cheeks, for example, or the grains of sand, drifting into patterns.

I find these two media the most appropriate to describe what I am trying to translate. That is why I use oil painting and photography.

WU: Usually there is a triangle of connection between the artist, the art, and the observer. In some cases an artist would expand a collection because he or she found a certain reaction from the viewers. I have met many artists who told me that they get two satisfactions from creating art, the first is from creating and finishing the work, and the second is from seeing how the observers interact with the piece. How do you deal with that?

EA: I don’t think I would overstate that, because whether or not my work is exhibited, and whether or not people respond positively or even negatively to my work, I will continue to make art.

Of course it is important to share the work in exhibitions and I can’t deny the fact that when you see people’s appreciation of your work, or getting the same feelings you got while you were making it, you feel connected. It’s like getting something while you’re giving something, and that is great. I do hope people have pleasure and stimulus from my work.  On the other hand, not putting so much on the three way interaction frees me. Putting yourself in a position where people’s or critics’ opinions would mean too much to you can be very dangerous for your creativity. Because you will end up producing what they want, not what you want. And you may start to depend on approval rather than taking the risks you have to take to follow your own way. I saw that happening so many times, that the artist ends up losing a part of his or her artistic identity.

WU: Does your work come in collections, are pieces related to each other?

EA: What you see around you right now is inspired by the desert and the sun, this is the environment around Jeddah. Each painting describes the relationship and connections between the land and my soul. When I am back in Wales you will start to see different colors that are again inspired by my surroundings.

I don’t consciously work to produce a series as such. However, once the work develops a new strand, then it may be the start of a new series or chapter, if you like. Of course, if I am in a very different location (such as a new physical environment) then a distinctive change will occur, the art will enter a different phase. Otherwise I think it is more a case of steady development.

WU: As someone who teaches art in Saudi Arabia, do you see a potential for artists in the younger generation?

EA: You can see a very high potential here, but it is rare to pursue that career in the long term, since there are other factors aside from potential that affect the decision of wanting to become an artist. That said, I see a lot of talent and creative energy among the children here.

WU: How does the act of making art work? What really happens once you get that urge to paint or create?

EA: Well when I have an idea, it is never developed fully at that moment, the act of actually making it is critical. I have a goal which is made of a range of colors and structures – but it is not a definite image. I stop at each step and observe where the painting is going, and how to react with it, so it could take weeks to finish a piece. It is more like you know where the destination is, but you get to discover and explore all the amazing routes that would take you there as you progress. In the end you will always get a fantastic surprise and reach the destination you intended. But if the activity of painting doesn’t result in surprises which are true to what I’m seeking, then it is going wrong for me and I lose interest and throw it out.

WU: It is clear in your photography that you seem to paint with light and motion, how do you envision the end picture before even taking it?

EA: The main element here is how using light and motion in photography is close to watercolor painting, although photography is nearly instant. But as I use the camera, I know where and how to draw areas of color and structure. Most of my night photography is urban, since I try to explore my urban surroundings in a different and new way. The freshness and controlled spontaneity that I get when I take photos in this way is very similar to watercolor painting in a cold climate, where the paint disperses rapidly on a wet surface and you can’t re-do it once the mark is made. Again, you have an intention and you execute the picture rapidly on the basis of your intimate knowledge of the medium’s behavior.

What I try to present is how you can create an organic environment from such an industrial surrounding that was created by man. I am re-drawing the city, exploring its features, softening its lines, mingling its exteriors, connecting the lights with their sources, and playing on the ironies of the signs of commerce we’re all familiar with.

WU: What would our readers expect next from Eli Acheson?

EA: I am planning a solo exhibition that will open at Al Alamaia Gallery during the first week of May, where I will showcase many of my artworks. What’s Up readers are more than welcome to come and visit.

www.EliAcheson.com