Welcome to my fun Q&A where you’ll discover new things about some of our favourite authors. I’m delighted to welcome the very talented West Australian writer, Anthea Hodgson, to a blog series that celebrates an art form other than creating beautiful books — painting.
My latest novel is a love story about a sitter and the artist who must paint her so I’m into all thing arty right now. I hope you like this oil on canvas.
Welcome Anthea.
Q: As pose and composition are important factors for a portrait, choose what kind of ‘look’ would you like for your portrait.
- On a chaise lounge (Kate Winslet/Titanic style)
- Fully clothed in a rocker (Whistler’s Mother style)
- A close up of your face (Girl with the Pearl Earring style/Mona Lisa)
- In all your formal finery befitting your ‘authorly’ status (Regal style)
- Other
A: Probably a close up of my face. But not a detailed close up…
Q: *Snap* I just took your photo as a reference for my portrait of you. Tell us where you are and what you’re wearing. (Be honest.)
A: Track pants, yesterday’s t-shirt (it has a bull’s skull and some flowers on it) my glasses, and the watch my grandmother gave me when I was 11 (and appropriate middle-aged woman sanctioned underwear).
Q: Given a choice, what precious item would you want to be included in a portrait of you?
A: I don’t have a non-human being one, which will be great in the case of fire, but which does make me sound like a hippy. I think, even though she’s not an item, I’ll choose my writing partner (and full-time Labrador) Possum, because I feel I should recognise all the lying about supporting me she does on a daily basis, all of the redesigning of my home and workspace, and all the dog poo she allows me to collect on her behalf. (She assures me my turn will come). I think we’d make a cosy portrait together, and Possum always appreciates another opportunity to shed on me.
Q: With acquired savant syndrome* featuring in my next novel, I’m curious . . . If you were to wake up from a coma one day to find yourself totally obsessed and a genius (in something other than writing, of course) what would you want it to be? (music, painting, languages, maths, touching your toes while typing, etc)
A: I’d have to say, so many things, like maths brilliance and dancing dazzlement, but I’ll say – to be able to play the bagpipes. My dad was a wonderful piper, an instrument he learnt at school in the 50’s, and his playing accompanied our lives growing up. We like to brag he played for the Queen during her visit to Perth, and then at sports days at Yealering, and to the sheep at home on the farm. Even though he was in the early stages of Alzheimers at the time, he even wrote a tune for my wedding. He had a beautiful set of pipes (now silent) sent from Scotland all those years ago, and I’d love to play them as beautifully as my dear dad could. It would be like talking to him again.
Q: If you happened to wake up one day and be a genius with a paintbrush, whose portrait would you want to paint and why?
A: Chris Hemsworth. Really, you know why..
Q: Your preferred medium would be?
- Oil on canvas
- Watercolour
- Pencil/Ink
- Pastels
- Kiddy crayons
A: Oil on canvas! It seems very fancy and difficult.
Picasso once asked the question: “Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?” In my next novel, the artists says to 58 y.o Ava, “A mature person has depth of character and it’s their layers, built from life’s lessons that interest me the most—when wisdom replaces curiosity and experience replaces youthful exuberance.”
Q: What two traits would you hope an artist captures in a portrait of you?
A: Kindness and determination (and a good set of teeth).
Q: Because every fireplace deserves a portrait, in whose house would you hang a portrait of you as a surprise and what would they say?
A: My mum’s house, and she’d say – Thank you very much. She is very polite.
Q: Keeping in mind that lucky recipient of your portrait, how would see yourself framed?
- Minimalist or no frame at all – just the canvas (take me as I am)
- Modernist – chrome, nothing too fancy
- Sophisticated – warm, wood, old world
- Flamboyant – go all the way and gilt-edged!
No frame at all.
Q: Finally, if someone was to add a plague/title your portrait, how would it read?
Anthea Hodgson. Chocolate professional.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Anthea Hodgson is a country girl from the wheatbelt of Western Australia. She has worked in radio in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane before returning to live in Perth, WA with her husband, two children and doggy writing partner, Possum. Anthea is the author of two rural novels, The Drifter and The Cowgirl, both set in the small farming community in which she grew up, and where she discovered chocolate. But not coffee and wine. That came later.
https://www.facebook.com/anthea.hodgson
http://www.antheahodgson.com/
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Now… Before you go, I have some more author portraits to celebrate the release of my 5th novel, available in print and ebook (worldwide).
Check out my Book Room for info about A Place to Remember.
*Acquired savant syndrome, in which a person acquires prodigious capabilities or skills following dementia, a head injury or concussion, epilepsy or other disturbances.
