By Tanya Steele
A young Monbulk youth has made a solid milestone as an emerging artist, painting a giant vivid desert dreamscape for a client.
Fern Harris or ‘Inksprout’ as she is known as online has made some bigger steps into the world of art, selling her first-ever commission over the weekend of 16 June.
Ms Harris said the client had requested a sentimental centrepiece for this home and had a lot of fun creating the work.
“This is the first commission I’ve done and it was very nerve-wracking showing the client for the first time,” she said.
“He requested a very colourful desert scene.”
“The client is obsessed with them it had things like gold and he loves feather headdresses and lots of colour.”
The stretched canvas work, yet unnamed is stylistically sitting in the ‘pop art’ realm.
“It has thicker lines and brighter colours,” said Ms Harris.
The young 20-year-old has always loved art and she is currently studying tattooing as well.
“My tattoo style is simpler and bolder,” she said.
Ms Harris said that it ‘feels natural’ to go down this path.
“The culture of tattooing, the self-expression and body art are all very dear to me,” she said.
Ms Harris has previously showcased her work with the Burrinja art gallery before – having two pieces on display at an exhibition in 2022.
“I would love to continue to commission and sell individual pieces,” she said.
Support for emerging young artists can be incredibly important and Mia Pensa, a former winner of Youth ART, when it was held at Linden Gate in Yering Station in the Yarra Valley a few years ago said it can be very daunting to start out.
Ms Pensa has since gone on to sell her work internationally and attributes a number of factors to her success.
She encourages new and emerging artists to trust themselves.
“Create something unique, make art that speaks to you, that will get you so much further,” Ms Pensa said.
Painting the piece was a very ‘fun’ experience for Ms Harris – although she said it was a little ‘intimidating’ painting a larger work onto canvas.
“My process is usually creating a sketch or a base painting digitally and then I’ll transfer over onto canvas, and then complete the rest of the painting using acrylics,” she said.
Ms Harris said she has always loved art and wants to continue to pursue it as a career.
“A lot of my energy at the moment is going into tattooing, but the painting was a really fun milestone – it took around 30 hours,” she said.
The client loved the piece and Ms Harris said she felt very satisfied finishing such a large project and has no plans to slow down.
