Jane Chapman
As a child
I enjoyed painting and drawing, and drew a recognizable horse when I was three (according to my mum). I was hopeless at sport and suffered from severe hayfever, but it really suited me because I loved sitting and making things, while watching the telly. I have a huge library of adverts from the 1970s and 1980s in my head, and can sing various thirty-second songs about milk, chocolate and beer.
As an adult
I met my husband, Tim Warnes, while studying, and we share a mutual adoration of Elvis. I enjoy illustrating, because I love listening to Radio 5 and drinking coffee, while watching rabbits and partridge in the fields. I share the studio with Tim, but we hardly ever work in there together because we share childcare of our son. I wouldn’t make a very good fine artist because I need the inspiration of a text. I especially like painting, but I hate drawing because I have to find reference material and then my desk gets overloaded with paper and I can’t find my pencil … or my rubber … or my coffee…
As an artist
I like working as soon as I can after getting up in the morning, and then I stop after about five hours at lunchtime to become Mum again. I used to paint a lot more before my son was born, but I don’t think I achieved any more than I do now. Working part-time certainly improves concentration. Ideally, I like to draw and organize roughs in the winter, when the light is bad, and paint all through the summer. I work in acrylic paint, which has been the only medium for me, since I was introduced to it by an art teacher at school. The good thing about acrylic is that you can paint over your mistakes, wiping them clean.
Things you didn't know about Jane Chapman
- I hate cheesecake and fromage frais.
- I’m a genius at Lego.
- If there is a biting insect anywhere near it always chooses me as its dinner.
- Most of my clothes have paint on them because I accidentally drape my right sleeve in my palette while I’m working.
- Illustrating isn’t my first choice of career. I’d like to be a rock star, and I play bass guitar sometimes.
- I don’t know how to use a computer.
- I’m always losing my purse and once I accidentally threw it into a canal.
- I try not to run, throw or catch in public because I embarrass myself.
- My son calls me "The Stinker", but I don’t think that’s fair.
- I’ve got six space hoppers and a tortoise.