Madeline Jovicic
Madeline Jovicic finds beauty in life’s little moments when creating her whimsical, pastel-hued paintings.
Words: Hande Renshaw
Madeline Dovicic’s paintings transport us to sunny European summer holidays (remember those?!) referencing coloured street food, sardines and gelato stands in shades of pastels.
The self-taught artist draws on her love of family coming together and past and future travel manifestations in her work, ‘Nostalgia also plays a big role in the inspiration behind my paintings,’ she says.
Each painted scene is whimsical and joyful – we see clusters of lemons, bowls of colourful gelato and glasses of rosé. Madeline’s work takes snapshots of the little moments and celebrates them. And we want to dive right in.
‘The everyday is often what brings me the most pleasure: a meal with family, a glass of wine and spending time in the sunshine – my artwork is a celebration of the little things that bring joy, of life’s simplest pleasures.’
While some subjects are taken from photographs, others are from feelings, memories or her imagination.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Photo: Courtesy of Bed Threads.
“As a young artist I feel like I’m still learning my practice in the way that I like to try new things when I’m painting, so maybe in that sense experimenting and pushing my boundaries is my process.”
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Madeline started painting as a hobby a few years ago after studying Branded Fashion Design at University. ‘I always knew I wanted to do something creative but hadn’t quite found my niche yet.’
It was while she was living in Newcastle, with the support of the tight know creative community, that she took the leap of faith and started her career at a local market stall. Fast forward to today, Madeline’s work is available from a number of different platforms including online stores, local boutiques and her Instagram.
The artist uses oil paints and acrylics to create texture in her work, in muted and delicate shades. ‘I’m drawn to peachy pinks, terracotta, sky-blues and sunny-lemon hues – these tones never fail to lift my mood and evoke summer holiday feelings.’
Experimenting and exploring new methods and materials is important, ‘It’s one of my favourite parts of being an artist – getting out of my comfort zone and creating something new and exciting is an extremely gratifying part of the process.’
Her greatest achievement so far? ‘Waking up every day and choosing to keep at my passion, even when I’m going through personal struggles – I hope that my artwork can bring joy to people even they’re going through tough times.’ Something we could all use right now.
