Airs & Modes, my exhibition at Charles Nodrum Gallery

Relocating permanently to Ballarat from Melbourne has given me the opportunity to paint the landscape as distance is no longer an impediment. This is a new direction in my work because although I’ve touched on the landscape from time to time, it has never developed into a substantial interest until recently. 

But the word landscape can be deceptive because it’s not always about the land. The title of this exhibition is AIRS and MODES, which deliberately suggests nature is something nearer to light, air and mood rather than a geographical location.

 

Many of the paintings were done en plein air while others were invented in the studio. The pictures painted outdoors took around 10 sittings each with minimum touches in the studio, and although they often do not resemble the places where I stood, the initial idea for a painting remains vivid whenever I return to the same spot. Every aspect of nature like fire, rain, lightning, wind, or clouds do not stand still for the artist to paint them, so there needs to be a lot more invention than there seems to be.

 

Spacescape seems a more appropriate word to apply to landscape painting as the presence of hills, trees, clouds and skies is more dependent on light and air which acts like a stage for the elements to play their part.