Zoe James -Williams

Zoe James- Williams is a welsh artist living in Swansea on the Gower coast. Zoe is especially well known for her ballet and figurative paintings  she became the first artist in residence at Swansea Grand Theater in Sept 2009. She also teaches art class in the Ostreme centre ad Swansea.

Zoe’s pastels and watercolor paintings of ballerinas and dancers have proved to be very popular with a wide audience. She has been enchanted by the world of dance since she was a little girl. As an artist is drawn to the dancers exquisite beauty and grace gained through years of dedication and self discipline, as she aims to bring out these qualities in her work.

One of her favorite subjects to paint and draw is the ballerina. ‘‘A ballerina masks her strength with beauty, yet undeniably it is still there.’ - says Zoe! ‘’When you see them rehearse day after day, striving for perfection, this quote is so true. It is this powerful combination that seems to embody the women who I try to capture.’’

Zoe’s Techniques:

Zoe likes to portray the female figure in its own intimate world, as if you are looking through a keyhole into a private moment. Their enigmatic quality is accentuated by her use of a limited palette, usually in watercolor or pastel, so as to concentrate on the drama of light and shade to create a dramatic and striking image. she uses classic costumes or white muslin for draping to give her pictures a timeless quality as well as focusing on the line of the body.

Zoe experiments a lot with watercolour, pen, pastel and oils. She also uses different colored pastel papers. she particularly like using red for the drama. she thinks that probably comes from influences of Asian art with their strong colour and line.

Influences

Zoe’s artistic influences include Degas and Toulouse Lautrec with their wonderful use of pastel and their talent in capturing the unguarded moments of their subjects. She  also look to Dame Laura Knight, the first female to become a full member of The Royal Academy. She painted a variety of subjects, including life in the theatre, and her backstage drawings and paintings really capture the atmosphere of life behind the scenes.