An Artist's Life in Five Paintings: Fiona Meek

At a ladies lunch in de county of Kent I met artist Fiona Meek (1966), an upcoming oil painter, who's currently exhibiting at Seascape Gallery in Godalming, Surrey. In her paintings you experience a melancholic longing for bygone times. They are delicate, light-coloured seasides and still-lives, who complement with her appearance. Although she lived and spent her childhood in Israel, she could have walked right out of The Secret Garden or Malory Towers. I asked her which five paintings represent her life and work.

1 Whistler - Whistler in his studio 

'If I had a Whistler hanging on my wall, my live would be complete. They are so beautiful, it stirs something in you. Like a diamond ring would to another woman. The colours, the yellow, the blue, that grey and black, the ambience, the faces, they are all extremely sensitive.

I always live in the past. My father died when I was seventeen and my mother fifteen years later. I had the most wonderful childhood, and I miss my family. Bereavement can throw you completely. The closer you get to someone, the harder it is to get over it. I suffered with depression for many years. I had a great therapist and I used to say to him: "The day I pick up my paintbrush, will be the day that I'm better."

I was right. It's really healing for me to paint. You sit at your easel and thoughts pass through your head, but you ultimately think of colour, form and how the colours sing. While painting, you are in the past in a different, productive and positive way. It's a way of switching off. However, the wistfulness does always come across. I don't mind that, because I recognise it. I never see myself doing a modern, contemporary piece without striving for an atmosphere. Just like Whistler did.'

2 Turner - Sunset
'I love the sea. I grew up on the beaches in Israel and France - my grandmother was French. Turner used to go to Whitstable, near where I live. There is something about the light, the way it makes you feel and the sunsets - maybe that's why there are so many artists in Whitstable. Turner visited it specially for the light.

He's an inspiration. His paintings are abstract, but yet you can read them. They are so real. Look at the movement of the sky, that's extraordinary. I don't know anybody who doesn't like his work.

I love paintings that make the hairs on your arm stand up. For me that's the most important thing. My paintings are so much about atmosphere, and Turner was an expert. He was a rebel in his time. People didn't like it. They didn't get it. It came from the heart. That's how I like to paint as well.'

3 Euan Uglow - Title unknown
'When I was thirty, I went to art school. I was a mature student, given a second change. When I was young and living at Bedgesbury school for girls, I painted all the time. Every painting I did went up on the walls in the dining room, but nobody ever said: "You can go to art college." The only thing that mattered was a good education. It's a tragedy. To be honest, I should have done what I'm doing now much earlier on.

I studied Fine Art at Christchurch University in Canterbury from 1993 to 1997. My teachers were fabulous. A lot of them came from Slade, an art school in London, and many were taught by Euan Uglow (born in London 1932), who's one of the artist's that inspired me, a modern day painter who wanted to go back to the masters and learn the very basics.

At art school painting became a need for me. I was living on everything they were teaching me. I don't know if you can be taught how to paint, but you can be taught how to look. That's what I learnt, and I practise it anywhere and anytime. It became a second nature.'

4 Cezanne - Still-live with apples
'I love Cezanne and his still-lives, because he's one of the painters that taught me how to look. He once said: "When you observe an apple, imagine all things: the front, the side, the space, the corner of a screen, every peace of the wall or table is as important as the apple." I admire him for his aim for perfection and wanting to get it right.

Cezanne used mathematics in his paintings. Het could be inspired by a line, and let it take shape. It's not something I live by as a rule, but often I think: where can that line take me?

When I paint I look at it over and over again. I plan a picture aesthetically. I go back and paint it over, and sometimes I completely change it. The paintings I am the least happy with, sometimes become my most favourites. Work like that is an experience. The more you do things, the more you see different aspects and learn about other elements or techniques that will work in different ways. Every day, every picture is a learning thing.'

5 Fiona Meek - Horizon
'When my father died, my mother and I went to a spiritualist. She looked at me and said: "I see blue, you are a painter and you're going to be famous for your paintings of blue." I was seventeen and it didn't mean anything to me than. I was there in name of my father. I forgot about the prediction, but years later it occurred to me again.

I love painting the seaside. Here you see me twice at the beach in Israel, in a painting and a photo. I'm not a sailor or a good swimmer, but being on the edge of the sea gives me a great feeling. The sky is big, the sea is big, the unanswered questions are big... it all just goes on forever. It's almost comforting that you don't know the answers and maybe you are not ment to have the answers. You just have to look.

A picture never starts as you intended. I always change it, sometimes completely. I never use a pencil or plan my paintings. I take my pallet knife and I put something down. Sometimes I have an idea, but often the beginning is very different from what it becomes. I don't worry so much about that. It takes me on a journey, and I hope in ten years time that I'm recognised for my work.'

www.fionameek.com