INTERPRETATION AND VARIATIONS
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My intention with this series of paintings is to invite the viewer to concentrate on The Sea much more than they might usually. Observing the movement, shapes and colours of the seascape, influenced by the natural elements of sun, wind and rain.
These pictures came about because I would fish at Frazer Reef just north of Iluka, New South Wales Australia, often losing my bait (mostly to seagulls) in a short space of time. Then I would sit on the same rock each day and draw the sea, always facing towards north-east.
It was easy to make variations of this scene as the sea was never the same from one day to another.
Although the smaller pastel drawings were done in sequence over many enjoyable weeks, the larger pictures were painted afterwards at random over the following year.
To quote Matisse: “To render beauty accessible to all”
The patterns on the water became shapes in the pastel drawing.
This day the sea was very calm and the surface glassy. It looked like there was a veil over the water, so I decided to place a grey dot wash over the colours.
The outline of the shapes was not white on the ocean, but when thinking about how to depict them I decided a neutral colour would be the best way to fence them. As in all these paintings, I am trying to capture the essence of the seascape.