Criss Canning is one of Australia's leading artists and is world-renowned for her still life art. After a long career she hangs in the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Artbank and in many private collections around the world. She has had over 21 solo exhibitions and in 2007 was the subject of a major retrospective organised by the Art Gallery of Ballarat. 

She lives and works in a country house surrounded by a gorgeous garden which she maintains with her husband David Glenn. She is also a worldwide star on social media with a large number of followers who can admire her artwork and also videos of her garden.

Her style is distinctive, incredibly technically proficient and meticulously executed. Amour Fou & Art was very honoured to have received an interview and to feature some of Criss Canning's beautiful floral still lifes.

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Name: Criss Canning

Occupation: Artist

Statement: My aim is always to create something of Beauty.

Next: Now it is more about quiet contemplation, a slower more mediative approach, each work being allowed to develop at its own pace , given the time it needs to fully express what inspired and excited me at the beginning .

"I feel that each flower brings with it a life force and energy, and this is what I am trying to capture."

How did you start painting flowers?

As soon as I started painting it was obvious to me that this was what I wanted to do more than anything ...that was 57 years ago ,and in that time , twenty eight solo exhibitions and one Major Retrospective in 2007. The last thirty five years have been dedicated to still life.

I studied still life, and this often incorporated flowers, but, the real beginning of my paintings with flowers began when I met my husband David, thirty three years ago. We met when I went to his flower field to ask for flowers to paint. His land then consisted of acres of the most beautiful flowers with hundreds of varieties growing there like ribbons of colour . David still grows most of the flowers that I incorporate into my still-life.

I never work from photographs, always with the live specimens...this is important to me, as I feel that each flower brings with it a life force and energy, and this is what I am trying to capture. This of course does become quite challenging at times, as some flowers only live for a day or two. After I make my initial drawing onto the canvas, I firstly paint the flowers, completely finishing them before moving onto the other objects ...my backgrounds are the last to be painted.

What do you have to consider when painting a flower?

The thing that is most important to me in the design, is that the flowers and the objects have a sense of harmony, both in colour and the way in which they enhance each other, a grace...I look to making the flowers accurate and recognisable, but not in the true Botanical sense..which to me is a completely different art .

"Flowers symbolise for me something of the Spiritual, their perfection and beauty is still something I am completely in awe of."

What do flowers symbolise for you. Do you have a favourite flower?

Flowers symbolise for me something of the Spiritual, their perfection and beauty is still something I am completely in awe of. The colour combinations, so perfect, speak to me of something akin to music in the finely tuned balance. It is difficult to choose one flower as a favourite, but , the huge Oriental Poppies that my husband grows especially for me to work with are extraordinary.. I love the way in which the pleated petals curl and unfold to reveal the beautiful inner markings, and velvety black stamen that surround the perfect ‘ art nouveau ‘ seed pod. The colours are breathtaking and allow me to load my brush with sensuous, jewelled paint in an attempt to capture their beauty.

Where is your studio located?

My studio is in our home, a large old stone farmhouse built in 1860, in the Central Goldfields Victoria , Australia. All around our home are gardens we have created together over the past thirty years, and these provide a constant source of inspiration for my paintings.

June 10, 2021

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15 January 2023: Smith & Singer, Melbourne dedicated an exhibition to one of Australia's most important contemporary artists. Criss Canning is known worldwide for her meticulous floral still lifes, executed in a unique and outstanding contemporary style. Canning's work is in the National Gallery of Australia and in museums and private collections worldwide. She finds inspiration for her flowers at Lambley Nursery, a 40-acre flower garden she maintains with her husband David Glenn, known for its incredible selection of dry climate plants; reminiscent of Monet's Giverny. Her book, Criss Canning: The Pursuit of Beauty is still available on Amazon.

Speaking to Alethea Mag, Criss Cannings announced on the occasion of her exhibition:

My last exhibition December 2022 was the product of two years work, and my continued love for the genre of Still Life. This has been my passion for the past thirty seven years, and one I never tire of. For me it is the most exciting subject matter.

Many of the comments I received from those visiting my exhibition, were in relation to my use of colour. Colour is one of the main reasons I paint, and also why my preferred medium is oil paint. The intensity and jewelled quality one can achieve in this medium is for me unparalleled. My inspiration for colour right from the beginning of my painting career, fifty seven years ago, has always been the observation of the Natural World. It is here that we see colour combinations that often shouldn’t work, but are presented to us in such perfect balance that they leave us in awe.

It is my belief that we will never completely understand colour with its myriad of complexities. Over the past decade my fascination with grouped objects as subject matter, has continued to grow… this began with a triptych of still life inspired by a dream. I had placed thirteen objects in each of the compositions, unconsciously in the beginning, but then intrigued as to why this number seemed to work so well. 

Many of the paintings in this last show have continued with this theme, one in particular being named “ Still Life with Thirteen Objects”. I never work towards a particular theme for my exhibitions, preferring to let the work develop in an organic way , leading me.

Now aged seventy five, and with a career as an artist spanning fifty seven years, I find my approach to be very different to when I was young. Now it is more about quiet contemplation, a slower more mediative approach, each work being allowed to develop at its own pace , given the time it needs to fully express what inspired and excited me at the beginning. My aim is always to create something of Beauty.

crisscanning.com.au

©Criss Canning