Soft Terrain

Some paintings announce themselves boldly. This one arrived differently — with a quiet confidence and an invitation to slow down. Soft Terrain emerged through a process of layering soft acrylic washes and intuitive mark-making, creating a work that feels both contemplative and spontaneous.

Collectors of my work often respond to the subtle emotional tone of pieces like this — where abstraction becomes a space for memory, mood, and personal connection. Soft Terrain is part of an ongoing exploration of softness in visual language: how colour, shape, and gesture can offer both stillness and movement, thought and feeling, all in one breath.

The palette — pale greens, lemony neutrals, and translucent whites — evokes a sense of landscape without defining it. The forms hover between map-like structure and organic looseness, encouraging the viewer to interpret and re-interpret. There’s a deliberate ambiguity here, designed to reward repeated viewing.

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Elwood Moore, Painter, Melbourne.

Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of lying on the classroom floor at preschool during story time, completely absorbed as our teacher, Ms Judy, read aloud tales by Enid Blyton, E.B. White, and Roald Dahl. My mind would drift out the window, journeying to enchanted woods, talking barns, and chocolate factories. These moments didn’t just entertain me—they sparked a lifelong passion for the magic of visual expression.

I kept little handmade storybooks—those fashioned from small stacks of paper and card, folded and stapled through the crease to form a spine—into which I poured my imagination throughout primary and high school. Later, I pursued university studies and forged a career, first in graphic design and then in architecture.

While these paths honed my understanding of colour, structure and form, painting remained my constant. It’s the medium where I feel most at home, allowing me to explore ideas of space, memory, and form with immediacy and tactility. My work spans abstract, still life, landscape, and portraiture, often built up through layers of brushwork and palette knife, embracing both control and chance.

Living and working in Australia for over 30 years, I’m fascinated by our cultural landscape—the interplay between natural and built environments, and the lingering influences of our complex heritage. These themes subtly inform my work, inviting viewers to find their own narratives within the textures and forms.

If a piece resonates with you, stirs a memory, or evokes a feeling you can’t quite name, then we’ve connected—and that’s the essence of why I paint.

Thank you for connecting,
Elwood

Education + Qualifications

Bachelor Architecture [1st Class Honours ], RMIT University 2001
[including 2 specialist electives in Fine Art Painting]

Bachelor Arts Graphic Design [Distinction], Swinburne University 1991

Diploma Arts Graphic Design, Swinburne University,1990

TOP, Art & Design, Box Hill Tafe 1986
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Professional History
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2015 – present > Full time Artist, Painting

2011 – 2015 > Design Director, MWD, residential building design

2001 – 2011 > Creative Director, Millimetre Design & Branding

1994 – 2001 > Senior Designer, MYD Graphic Design

1992 – 1993 > Graphic Designer, FHA Design

1991 – 1992 > Junior Graphic Designer, RBD Design

Exhibitions

2024 > Open Studios Exhibition, St Hellier Gallery, CoCraft, Melbourne
2023 > Bluethumb Awards Finalist Exhibition, Melbourne
2018 > Solo Exhibition, “Cloud Games”, Studio B, Prahran, Melbourne

2023 > Bluethumb Awards Finalist