Treefern at New England

Here's my latest painting, Treefern at New England. A couple of months ago I hiked to this spot at the New England National Park. Yes it's green, but I've always wondered how to try and render a rainforest. I hadn't painted an oil for well over a year, and I'm glad I did it in oils, there's something substantial about it. The photos can't capture the depth it has. Here are also a couple of closeups. I had fun with the texture and lines of the rocks in the foreground, and trying to catch the light on the ferns. My next painting will be in oils too!

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Brian Purcell went to art school in Sydney Australia in the late 70s-80s and has been exhibiting since 1988. Also a widely-published poet, and lead singer of the cult 80s-90s band Distant Locust, he has also created collages and visual poems, some of which illustrated his first book of lyrics and poems, 'Lovely Infestation' in 1995. He had his first solo exhibition - The Day on Fire - at The Shop Gallery, Glebe, in Sydney in March 2021, followed by 'Estuary' in February 2023.

Brian's painting 'Cathedral, Gums at Bongil' is featured in the Autumn 2023 SLNSW's quarterly colour magazine, Openbook. It appears thanks to the wonderful poet Magdalena Ball writing an ekphrastic poem about it! Brian was also a finalist in the Bluethumb Art Prize in 2022.

Brian’s paintings are concerned with the effects of light and colour in the Australian landscape, and the tensions between representation and abstraction. Although primarily working with landscape, he also paints still life and figurative paintings, such as the ongoing series ‘One of those Nights’. For the past six months he has been able to concentrate on painting for the first time in his life, and is looking forward to developing and extending his journey through painting.