ARTIST Louise Schofield certainly had a brush with success while trawling the internet.
Quite by chance, the watercolour specialist came across a new art medium pretty much unused in the UK.
And now she is toasting the discovery of alcohol-ink which has transformed her working world.
“It is so expressive,” said Louise, who works from her home in Monk Bretton.
Developed in America, alcohol-ink is a fluid ink which comes in tiny bottles and can be blended with a solution similar to alcohol cleaners.
“Not many people use it here,” said Louise. “It is mainly in the US but it is also popular in Australia. There aren’t many distributors in the UK.
“I stumbled on it by chance while online. I have always worked in watercolours, but this is much more vibrant. It has an abstract effect, almost impressionistic.”
Louise spent several months learning how to use the alcohol-ink. Then in April she contacted an agent to show him her work mainly pictures of flowers or landscapes.
“Within five minutes he got back to me saying he wanted to distribute my art,” she said. “He now does that throughout the UK. He was so impressed.”
Because she now has an agent, the recent food and drink festival at Cannon Hall was the last time Louise will have a traditional stand so she took along three examples of the alcohol-ink work.
“People just loved them,” she said. “They were mesmerised. They have such texture to them.”
Born and bred in Monk Bretton, Louise trained as a graphic designer and spent 10 years at Barnsley’s Alhambra Centre as an artist.
The 47-year-old mum started her art business around three years ago.
“In the past, my work was mainly wildlife so this has really taken me out of my comfort zone,” she said. “It’s vibrant ‘happy art’. It’s good to look at and it picks you up.
“It’s fabulous and addictive and has really moved me forward.”
Louise said a gallery in Pontefract recently took a painting of flowers she had done and it sold within two hours of being put on the wall. “That shocked me,” she said.
