Blog

At last I am having another creative spurt.This week I have added to my gallery four line and wash pieces and two pastels.

The line and wash ‘River of tears’ series is currently hanging in the Strathalbyn Stationmaster’s Gallery as part of the ‘Splash!’ exhibition (click on Coming events for more information).

I think I enjoyed doing the pastels the most. They were exciting to paint (or should I say draw?), because I thought I’d follow a technique I saw on a video recently borrowed from the library. It involved a certain amount of risk-taking and vigorous mark-making. The results are richly layered, very colourful and deeply satisfying. You should have seen me doing the ‘boulders’ pastel out on my back porch this afternoon – standing with pastel held out like a fencer’s foil, stabbing and slashing at the paper to strains of Leonard Cohen, Tracy Chapman and U2.

detail from ‘boulders’

detail from ‘boulders’

These works are based on photographs taken by my very talented sister-in-law of the country near to her home in outback South Australia.

O.K.

Aren’t they beaut, these wortakullas!

They are actually watercolours, in case you were wondering.

Shock horror! I am doing more nudes!

Yes, I have been attending a life drawing class for some time. It’s extremely helpful for developing my drawing skills. The tantalisation wore off a few minutes into the first class.

This week we used previously painted backgrounds to draw or paint in the medium of our choice. I chose Genesis heat-set oils. I have only used them twice before. They aren’t smelly like normal oils, and if you want to dry them you can do so quickly with a heat gun. In fact, without extreme heat they wont dry at all, and you can leave the paint uncovered on your palette and on your brushes until the next class. Moreover, they wash out in water! So why are they called oils? I’m not sure, but I don’t really care – they are simply wonderful to use. There you go Genesis, a free plug!

Here’s what I came up with at this week’s class. We were given 40 minutes to do each of these.

I recently displayed some artworks at the Burnside Council’s ‘Atrium’. They were completed during a Life Drawing class that I have been attending for the last 18 months or so at Marden Senior College. There were some very nice pieces of art shown from students of a number of different classes held at the college. The exhibition, which was part of the SALA Festival, was quite well attended and resulted in several sales – pretty good for student work.

Here are a few blurry snaps from my dodgy mobile phone camera.

My last post showed an early stage of my latest painting. I took a little longer than the estimated week to complete it. I spent a couple of hours on it the day after my post, and then touched it up a bit every day until I announced it completed last Sunday. Here it is:

The medium is acrylic on stretched canvas. It’s thick textured surface was assisted by adding impasto medium to the underpainting. It’s dimensions are 121 cm x 61 cm (24″ × 48″).

I’m not sure yet what I will call it. Hopefully I have conveyed a moody atmosphere and excited a sense of mystery.
More paintings of similar theme are currently churning about in my mind.

The launch of this website is wonderfully exciting. Life was whizzzing past so fast, that I decided the website I always intended to have must be made now, or it might never be. And I think it looks fantastic, I’m sure you will agree.

At the same time painting and drawing has become a huge part of my life, swamping out other things I used to spend my time on, and filling up all the little gaps at the edges of my daily routines. My mind is constantly dwelling on design, composition and medium; my eyes zooming in on pattern, play of light, colour and tone.

With the June exhibition fast approaching, a sense is coming upon me of being specially blessed – undeservedly bestowed with an opportunity I used to think I was only allowed to dream of. I am humbled by it, secretly wondering whether I really should dare to put myself out there in the public gaze quite that much.

But what good is a dream that is unfulfilled? And few will criticise the man who dares to realise one.
So, I will simply keep charging on, focussing, with brushes and palettes in hand, on the vision directly ahead of me.

This is the name of the latest group exhibition at the Red Opus Art Space. Commencing with a big opening on Friday 23rd July 2010, it shows off the work of 18 talented Adelaide artists. It’s part of the amazing and ginormous annual SALA Festival. For full details of the exhibition see my Coming events page. I am exhibiting 4 watercolours in the exhibition. Each of them depicts one of two of my favourite iconic South Australian locations in slightly different ways, and each shows how bodies of water mirror the colours of the sky and landscape, blending all into harmony.

Naturally, all are welcome to attend.

Meanwhile I have been working on another painting – a largish acrylic. Inspired by memories of a beautiful morning stroll along the Hindmarsh River in downtown Victor Harbor several months ago, I have sought, through colour, texture and composition, to bring a bit more expression into my work. I was really “in the zone” for this one. Here’s a quick snapshot of the very early stages of the work. While the glare from the flash is a bit annoying, it does highlight the energetic, even manic manner in which I have applied the paint.

Tune in next week for the finished work…

I have recently been reflecting, in my watercolour paintings, upon reflections. I am enjoying the effects I can achieve by blobbing my paint onto the paper, wet and dry, then squashing and dragging it. Here are a few watercolour reflective experiments. Based on the sleepy, murky Murray River, the scene of many a fondly remembered camping holiday and kayaking trip, I have tried to capture the great river’s mesmerising power.

River Murray reflections 7

River Murray reflections 8

River Murray reflections 9

River Murray reflections 10

River Murray reflections 11

River Murray reflections 12

My latest venture is at the Red Opus gallery. After closing temporarily at the end of March 2010, the gallery has opened its doors again.

Both Malinda-Ro and I are exhibiting a number of works in ‘Magnum Opus 2’, which started on 7th May 2010.

In the two pastels and the acrylic I am showing, my focus is once again on trees. I keep coming back to trees. There’s something immutable about them that appeals to me.

Malinda-Ro is exhibiting some stunning macro photographs titled ‘colours from the past’.

Here’s a flier for the exhibition:

Recently Malinda-Ro and I pitched a tent near the lovely Hindmarsh River, which winds through Victor Harbor to the sea. There are some beautiful tea trees there with gnarled, flaky-bark trunks arching over the water. I couldn’t resist doing a sketch or two.

I have drawn this onto black paper with white gel pen. I am also contemplating the composition of a painting with acrylics in landscape format..