Winter Light, Lake Wendouree

Winter Light, Lake Wendouree, 2024, oil on linen, 61.5 x 91.5 cm

I've painted quite a few pictures of Lake Wendouree in Ballarat. Although I've been looking at the Lake for years, it never loses its inspiration. The colours are often luminous because of the light that washes over its surface. I was interested in having a tree dissect the picture plane, because sometimes when one's view is slightly blocked it can make you look harder at what's there. Hopefully it has resulted in a more dynamic composition.

As always, I aim to paint an atmosphere that is still or serene, like a seascape by Seurat or an interior by Gwen John, two artists whose work I've admired for a long time.  

George Seurat's painting Evening, Honfleur, 1886, 

oil on canvas with painted wooden frame, 78.3 x 94 cm

Gwen John's A Corner of the Artist's Room in Paris,1907-1909, oil on canvas, 31.2 x 24.8 cm

Bathroom Paintings

 

Sink with Running Tap, 2025, oil on canvas, 83.75 x 83.75 cm.

Bathroom, 1995, oil on canvas, 60.75 x 60.75 cm

I've always loved images of interior spaces because there is an aura of secrecy and intimacy about them. I've also loved the philosophy of making something interesting and poetic from the so-called ordinary things that surround us. The above two paintings were inspired by a number of artworks I've seen over the years. Vermeer's The Milkmaid and Lucian Freud's Two Japanese Wrestlers by a Sink have liquids that are forever being poured from a jug or running from a tap. It's like perpetual motion in paint. My two works were done 30 years apart which just goes to show that liquid streaming from a container of sorts is still an inspiring thing to paint.

Here are some artworks that have inspired my own paintings of still life and interiors and especially the two bathroom ones.

A detail of Vermeer's The Milkmaid, 1657?, oil on canvas

A detail of Lucian Freud's painting Two Japanese Wrestlers by a Sink,

1983-87, oil on canvas.

Cressida Cambell's Shelf Still Life, 2012, Woodblock, 90 x 138 5 cm

Autumn Sunset Over Lake Wendouree

This painting was is an invented picture inspired by the sun setting over Lake Wendouree. Every time I circuit the lake, its light and colours surprise me. The variety and beauty of nature is never ending and never palls and this fact adds to my amazement.

 

Autumn Sunset, 2024, oil on canvas, 36 x 45.75 cm

Magritte at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

My partner, Deborah Klein, and I have just returned to Melbourne after seeing an incredible exhibition of the work of Magritte. Hosted by the Art Gallery of NSW, it would have to be one of the greatest exhibitions I've ever seen.

There were so many iconic paintings, many of them from the Menil Collection in Houston. So many paintings engaged my attention for some time, much longer than I would normally look at a work. The crowds were steady but not overwhelming, to the point where I could stand in front of a painting and have it all to myself. 

I've always seen most of Magritte's works reproduced in books and I've always thought of him as a good technician but the the actual paintings revealed to me an artist of high technical ability. It just doesn't come through that way in books. The colours were exquisite and although you cannot see his brushwork, the richness of the colours elevated the work from being inert renditions.

The curatorial design of the show deserved high praise. The rooms were arranged in chronological order so his development as an artist was easy to contemplate. It was so interesting to see his early work and the amazing change that took place that made him the artist we have come to know. The lighting was excellent and occasionally a painting was hung higher than the line of sight to reflect the same high sightline of the composition. 

His ideas are wonderful. A mixture of humour, darkness and absurdity, but they seem to touch something within humanity. They aren't really puzzles to solve or even something to think about but more like something to feel. Although Magritte said his ideas are thoughts in paint, his thoughts make us feel more than they make us think.

Below are some of the images from the exhibition.

Pages From a Sketchbook

I rarely use a sketchbook in my art practice. The world around me is the inspiration for my art, so the real world can act as a sketchbook. Ideas can form in my mind when I notice something to paint, it's as if life itself is whispering to my imagination. But there have been times when I've done a few drawings in a sketchbook and here are a few of them. Mostly done in biro and from life, most of the sketches have remained just that, although on occasions I've used a small sketch to confirm what an idea might look like in material form. 

My Studio Walls

Over the years, most artists accumulate quite a number of unsold works. Storage is the only answer to the question, 'What do you do with all your unsold work?' The best way to store artwork is on the walls. Not only is it a safe way to look after them but you get to see artwork all the time. It creates a different ambience to a house that has bare walls. 

These two walls are my studio walls and they display paintings and drawings that cover a 40-year period. The small still life paintings of fruit and objects are the earliest works. It was how I taught myself to paint. As the pics show, my subject matter is diverse and diversity keeps refreshing one's mind. 

I have quite a small studio, measuring 3x3 metres, but it has a very good natural light, which is essential. Almost all my landscape paintings are done on the spot and sometimes I paint rooms or corners of rooms in the house, so most of my painting isn't done in the studio.

Ross Campbell's MELBOURNE and the MOVIES - Confessions of a Certified Cinephile

Ross Campbell has been a friend of mine for decades and he's just published a book titled MELBOURNE and the MOVIES - Confessions of a Certified Cinephile. The book is about Ross' filmic journey from a young age until the present time, but he creates a vivid context that celebrates the wonder that cinema is. His knowledge of Melbourne's film history is unsurpassed and the inspiring and at times sad history of the magnificent cinema houses that once graced our cities and suburbs is fascinating. He explores the Melbourne influence, not only on Australian culture, but on world culture.  by bringing attention to the many people who have been inspired to create and preserve Melbourne's film history. Beautifully written and offering a generous amount of wonderful images it truly is an engrossing read.

Ross is an unassuming and modest man so it was a surprise to find out the force he's been in Melbourne's cinematic history. Projectionist, technician, film director, music editor, cinema designer, publicist, film festival adviser are just a few of the hats Ross has worn, and is still wearing. 

His book launch at the Astor Theatre was a festive occasion indeed, there was such a buzz in the air and during an interview with Zac Hepburn, film critic and manager of the Astor, Ross told a few of the stories that are in the book which were at times funny, witty, celebratory and poignant. But everything Ross had to say was interesting. The occasion was instantly uplifting because as you entered the Astor some delightful piano melodies could be heard from upstairs, played by Norman Camm. Ross always does things with a touch of class.

I was also pleased that Ross chose a small painting I did to be included in the book. The painting, which Ross owns, is of a scene inside a cinema where a modern audience is viewing one of the first films ever shown, The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station by the Lumiere brothers.

Afterwards Ross shouted some friends to lunch so it was a wonderful way to end this memorable occasion. Thank you, Ross and congratulations on a wonderful and important publication.

Photo credits - Deborah Klein

A perfect cover. So celebratory in red and gold, so witty in text!

My Painting at top left

My painting, The Arrival of a Train at Ciotat Station, reproduced in the book

From left - Norman Camm, Shane Jones, Deborah Klein and Ross Campbell. 

The audience. A full house!

Ross sharing one of his numerous stories about his cinema experiences. 

We could have listened to Ross speak all afternoon and into the night.

With Zac Hepburn

A fitting finale

Ross shouted us lunch. Barbara Boyd-Anderson at far right.