Lydiate based artist Anton Dolders may be familiar to you if you were at the Nerve stall during The Bold Street Festival a few weeks ago. The reason for that is simple - he was doing his artistry and sketching the view of the day as the public walked past and looked on. I looked at the pieces he did and couldn’t fail to be impressed. For such a seemingly modest person, his work is excellent and well worth the effort of seeing. I caught up with him recently and discussed his work and other such juicy topics.
You did some live drawing at The Bold Street festival, just in front of the Nerve Stall. How did it go?
I drew the architecture looking from Bold Street towards St Lukes. It was difficult once the festival became crowded so I drew whatever views were visible through the revelers; mainly the architecture higher up and returned to drawing at street level when the people had dissipated later in the day. In retrospect, I should have included more people in the picture but I started with rigid detail for the architecture and I would have needed a slightly looser approach for capturing the motion and flow of the crowd. It’s too late now! It was good though, I enjoyed myself!
Did you go to the Nerve Centre and what did you think of the things that went on there?
Well, to be honest I didn’t go at all! The first look I got of inside the Nerve Centre was when you showed me the images on your camera at the Egg! (We met at The Egg on the open night of TwentyTen and as artists do, started a conversation.) I saw the photo’s you took of the Nerve Centre, and I guess you did it justice as it looked so good. The closest I got to actually seeing it was putting my head against the window and peering inside once when I walked past, unfortunately!
What do you think are the good points of spaces such as The Nerve Centre?
(Thinks) Well, it’s social, creative and I guess if you have the space The Nerve Center seemed to have from the photo’s I saw, you can do a lot and get people involved. It looks as though it has a free and easy atmosphere. That suits me.
How did you first hear of Nerve?
Well, people talk about it at events and I’ve heard of it frequently in conversation. To be honest, I never experienced the physical manifestation of it yet but I’m sure I will soon!
Anton currently is showing work at EggSpace, in the cool surrounds of Egg Café, and Madelainartz Gallery, conveniently located in Clayton Square. The pieces at EggSpace, Optical Synapse (top) and Receptor (bottom), are digital photographs, pregnant with wonder and mysterious enough to get one thinking of the possibilities. Why did you choose the shots you chose for EggSpace's Twenty Ten exhibition?
The Egg is pretty hip and on the ball and the work I entered felt right for this thought inspiring setting
Do you have a routine for creating your work or do you “work as it comes”, so to speak?
I used to devote say, five or six hours in a day to creating, be it painting or drawing. But these days it’s less since I’ve started treating art as a more commercial venture. The sheer amount of Admin and socialising required squeezes the time for creativity. I remember the days when I had painting shifts; I was dead organised. The shifts were: 10am -12, then lunch/dinner 1pm -4/5pm. Then in winter the natural light runs out. In summer there is an extra shift, 7 till late. I'll get back into that soon.
What is your usual discipline of art?
I study landscapes; cityscapes; people and water and I portray them in pencil, pastel, charcoal or oil. They are actually my favourite media but I use others such as acrylic paint and building tools. I work in traditionally picturesque style and extreme contemporary. People remark that my more modern work is not at all similar to the landscapes and architectural studies and I say "Yes, they are; one influences the other. Work such as "Optical Synapse" and "Receptor" also portray structures and characters and are certainly dependent upon light for their illumination. Does that mean anything? There are layers of land supporting people and they are just conveyed in a more exhuberent manner than in the carefully controlled picture type pictures.
Do you have any favourite pieces of your work?
I enjoy working on most pieces of work but the technique I like the most is that of drawing with one pencil, usually a 2B on cartridge paper: a line drawing with both marks and empty spaces considered whilst capturing perspective, form and detail.
Talk us through your pencil drawing of St Lukes at Madalainartz. How long did it take to complete and what is the best location for sketching in your opinion?
My drawing of St. Lukes which currently hangs in Clayton Square Gallery was drawn from Renshaw Street and took approximately seven hours. I had to return for a second day to finish it because I had to talk to a lot of people whilst I was there. The best location for working on any picture is the one which gives you the most appealing viewpoint. It helps if it is slightly off to the side and spacious so you can just spread out with your stuff. Fields are good, especially under the cover of a tree as this helps prevent the page from being too glary.
As an artist, Anton also has part share in the R Gallery at Southport with many local artists, and is there regularly doing his craft for all to see.
What’s the story behind the R Gallery?
I entered into the group who exhibit at R Gallery after it was all well in progress. I already knew a few of them as I had previously exhibited with them and they invited me to come and look at the New R Gallery as its location changed about six months ago. Its now on London Street in Southport.
What are the aims of the R Gallery artistically speaking?
R Gallery's aims to promote art work by a variety of artists from all walks of life. We each staff the gallery for one day a week although some of us seem to do more of a day than others. There is a Help For Heroes art auction and exhibition on the 31st October starting at 4pm.
What is the scene in Southport like for arts?
The Southport art scene is pretty good. There are a number of exhibitions appearing and plenty of decent artists working and living in Southport. I am not one of them as I dwell approximately nine miles from there but I do frequent the town and have done since childhood. I have always liked its openness, colors, leafiness and coastal; seaside characteristics. Its a great place to practice art and the architecture is excellent, numerous Art Deco designs and forms. Southport does inspire me.
How does it compare with the ever growing Liverpool scene?
Yeah, Liverpool has a large art scene. London's is bigger. Hanging fees is Liverpool and Southport are far more reasonable though so I prefer it up this end of the country. Plus I am from here. I think the size of a scene is relative to the size of an area.
So, it seems that an artists life is ever busy, and the scene is ever growing. Certainly, this writer sees it every time a new show pops up, or a new gallery appears. But, artist or not, Christmas is coming faster than the famous Bullet Train. So, I asked Anton a seasonal question...
Finally, it’s coming close to Christmas now. What would you request from Art Santa and will you be creating any Wintry scenes in your art?
I am building a prints browser. I could pretend Santa brought it. A few pints would probably help there!
If you want to see Anton's work, head on down to any of the location mentioned above! But, I'm sure you'll come across a piece eventually as Anton is ever active at his art.Thanks to Anton for an illuminating chat, despite the technical problems and delays from life's random adventures we got there in the end!
Sebastian Gahan.
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