June Rollins, Painter
June Rollins' artwork is representational and impressionistic using bold, harmonious colors in a variety of mediums.
A large portion of her work consists of commissoned house and church portraits and rendering local and regional landmarks; including the North Carolina lighthouses and the Our Town art series featuring the town of Wadesboro. From 2003-2006, she did watercolor renderings of the entrances of Historic Salisbury's October Tour Homes for the Historic Foundation of Salisbury.
Originals, prints and note cards can be seen at The Campbell House in Southern Pines, Sunset River Market Place in Calabash and in the following locations in Wadesboro: Anson County Arts Council, Fancy Crafts, Lacy's and Old Mill Gallery & Studios. The Tharpe-Robbins Co., Inc., represents the artist's work internationally with limited and open edition prints.
June is a member of Stanly County Art Guild, Artists League of the Sandhills and a signature member of The Watercolor Society of North Carolina. She is a regular contributor of Last Words published in Yadkin Valley Living magazine and writes From The Art, a weekly online column for Art Sync magazine.
She offers beginner, advanced beginner and intermediate watercolor workshops and classes.
Artist Statement
I paint because I have to. It is a pull, deep within me that won’t be denied. My art is filled with surprises often brought about by happy accidents. But with each endeavor, there are discoveries of technique that further my development in the next work. I consider creating art a gift of grace.
The subjects of my paintings choose me more than I choose them. They come from varied, unexpected sources often surprising me with their insistence. It could be three onions, each a different color, while I am grocery shopping or a carpenter pencil sticking out of my husband’s back pocket.
Often I will have my camera with me and take photos of what moves me. The photos lie in a storage bin incubating. Sometimes I have waited 5 years before painting the subject.
I mainly work in watercolor and endeavor to explore and bring about its seemingly unlimited transformations, which involve learning to get out of the way and let the painting paint itself. From thin transparent soft-edged washes to hard-edged intricate textures, watercolor is presently my choice of mediums in expression.
Watercolor allows me to treat the paper differently to best express what the subject wants to say. Often, I saturate the paper front and back and pour in transparent pigments, tilting the paper back and forth encouraging the colors to blend. As the paper is drying, the subject is lifted out. This technique uses only a minimal amount of brushwork near the end. Another favored technique is when the paint is poured and the paper tilted, but onto dry paper instead of wet, creating intricate hard edges.
As I continue my artistic/spiritual journey I find myself having an increasing interest in additional water media, such as gouache and acrylic. I’ve also been experimenting with pastels and collage. Oh, and let’s not forget about oils.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” -Antione De Saint-Exupery