Jill Meager: Painting wildlife and abstract art

UK based artist, Jill Meager, focuses on close-up original portraits of animals, birds and insects and making abstract mixed-media paintings of the locations in which she finds them.

Jill’s work has been shortlisted for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and she has been a finalist in the National Open Art Competition. Her work has been used as illustration for a Michael Morpurgo short story and for Christmas card designs for the charities Farms for City Children and InterAct Stroke Support. Her work is held in collections around the world.

Jill is an artist who regularly works with BobCat Gallery, a small scale gallery specialising in original artwork at affordable prices. We chat to her to find out more about her journey so far…

Tell us more about your journey into the art world.

A cool neighbour up the road where I was raised in Scotland was an artist. She also made her children funky clothes and let them make a mess. I was star-struck. Art was not remotely on the agenda in my home and making a mess was forbidden, consequently I was very curious about creativity and had a sneaky idea that there was a whole other kind of life out there.

The art block at school was another country, an enticing department set apart from the school where exciting projects and conversations took place and where everyone was just different. In my teens, still yearning for a creative life but not really knowing what that was, I longed to be part of that tribe but caved to family pressure and went to university to study modern languages.

However, once freed from constraint, I spent most of my time there doing plays and then when I left, I went into acting.

I spent the next twelve years playing leading roles on TV, in film and in the theatre but then decided I really still wanted to go to art school and work in images as well as words (whilst also still satisfying my love of performance by working on the stand up comedy circuit to earn money.)

So I did and I finally became an artist in my 30s and haven’t looked back.

How would you describe your signature style and technique?

My interest is in the natural world and I am known for my large single portraits of animals and birds, their direct gaze looking out at the viewer, no background to distract from the exquisite design and beautiful features of whichever animal, bird or insect I am portraying.

Can you tell us about your latest work? Where did you find inspiration and what is the story behind it?

I have two new strands of work: the first is a move into abstracts. I travel to amazing places to draw and photograph my subjects and after a course in abstract painting, I am now working on the landscapes and sea-scapes I find myself in. They are selling well and my confidence is increasing!

The second strand is collage, playing with colour and shapes to define my subjects in a different way and challenge the viewer to see a different dimension. I cut up and rework the palette papers I use from my abstract work, a way of utilising what would otherwise be discarded.

Are there any exhibitions or events you are planning in near future?

I have three exhibitions coming up with BobCat Gallery, and the Ashburn Gallery is taking my work to Ascot, Cheltenham and Edinburgh Art Fairs this year. I also currently have work in a mixed winter show at the DN Gallery in Perthshire.

What is the best advice you’ve been given as an artist?

The best tip I was given is to play and just regularly keep playing without the inner critic being allowed into the room: the “What if” principle, which is quite good for the rest of my life too.

For more information please visit Jill Meager website: jillmeager.com

Follow Jill on Instagram: @jillmeager

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