Introducing Manxman artists: Sally Black

Originally a Scientific Illustrator, Sally Black expresses her love for the natural world through her oil paintings.

• 

What name do you go by for your art business?

Sally Black

How long have you been a practicing artist?

I trained as a scientific illustrator but became an exhibiting artist in 2009

What media do you work in?

I love using oil paints on large-scale canvases, but also paint on pottery thrown by my husband.

What medium will you be using for this commission?

I will be using oils.

Where on the Island do you live/what is your connection to the Island?

I live in Peel, but spent much of my youth in Port St Mary.

What kind of piece are you producing for this commission?

My love of nature will be expressed in two large paintings depicting many of the fish native to the Irish Sea.

What do you consider to be your biggest artistic achievement to date?

One of my first  big illustration jobs was re-doing all the illustrations for the tanks at Coney Island Aquarium in New York!

Which of your past works might people most easily recognise?

People will most likely know me for my fish!

What is your main source of inspiration?             

The natural world.

What do you hope to convey to passengers through this piece?

In this piece I hope to inspire the viewer to consider the life that exists beneath the waves.

When you travel by Steam Packet ferry, where do you love to visit/what happy memories do you have of visits you’ve made by Steam Packet ferry (perhaps even the feeling of coming home!)?

I grew up in a time when trips to and from the Island were made almost exclusively by boat, and many members of my family from Captain to Deckhand were Steam Packet men. Consequently I am very pleased to have been selected as one of the artists whose work will decorate the interior of the new IOMSPC vessel, Manxman.