Dear reader and art lover,
This is where i am expected to write a bio….my art, like many artists reflects my life, my environment and the things i value and that take my breath away…
I grew up a country kid in bushland but fairly suburban on the foreshores of a coastal lake, swimming and sailing and days with family and friends enjoying bay and lake and ocean beaches, on the water, by the water and in the water, but these days my wide open spaces are the beautiful Western Victorian Wimmera region or dusty outback stations of tens of thousands of acres and mighty but politically muddied and controversial inland rivers.
I have added my experience of the white sandy beaches and emerald waters of Jervis Bay and flannel flowers and boronia and lush Illawarra rainforests and Sydney region with its sparkling waterways to orange sand dunes and the bluebush, spinefex and Sturt peas in the middle of Australia. I am grateful to be back in the Wimmera among old friends and familiar places of the Grampians, goldfields and Grazing and cropping country after recently living on the edge of the outback where the Darling River meets the Murray. I have experienced some of inland Australia and its varied and unique landscape, with extremes of irrigated vineyards, golf courses, wetlands and country towns contrasted with sand based often drought stricken, bush and pastoral landscapes, i bring all these contrasting life and environmental experiences and sensations to my landscape paintings. whether in paint or photography my art is about the sunlight and contrast and scenery and wonder and colour of our Australian landscapes, the people on the land and sometimes simple still life collections of found objects and vintage glass and ceramic and a bunch of wildflowers. I love exploring the simplicity and complexity and beauty and wonder of the natural world around us. And yes i am guilty of finding subject matter on a golf course, albeit a pond in the scrub beside the course.
I have a deep intense love of colour and being outside in nature exploring whatever is there and i strive to bring this to my work or creating a themed still life, a garden scene or a portrait or wildlife work. I also quite like the ambience of old shearing sheds, rusty vintage trucks, clearing sales and weatherbeaten faces or wonderful early Australian architecture and collect a few antiques and examples of various design styles, of course, living nature, i am intrigued and inspired by art nouveau, my studio contains some of my vintage finds and heirlooms which is handy for still life painting.
I paint with Australian Made professional quality oil paint that i can depend on to last many decades if not longer, and can happily sign my name to when finished. I work by building up a painting idea in layers of brushmarks and colour and enjoy a familiarity with each of my colours and their unique mixing properties and interactions with each other and combining them to create the hues i want with possibilities and limitations of working with those pigments. It takes time and most paintings take weeks to produce using my various layering techniques and much coffee and contemplation and consideration. I work wet in wet and wet over dry, i sketch and scumble and scrafito, dab, blend, drag, splatter and gently add detail, whatever technique it takes to create my images and painterly textures. Its about the scenery or subject and about the joy of paint. It is a place and a painting, not imagined but visited, sometimes visited very often, sometimes in passing once in a lifetime in my travels, it is not abstract and not photo real, but an impression or expression a sense of place with a feeling, in paint of something that i hope also takes your breath away.
I was for many years, an avid gardener and plant collector and bring my knowledge and love of beautiful and interesting plants into my work. I have spent much time in the bush on foot or on horseback observing the habitat, landscape and wildlife, these days, limited by time, and wanting to travel further, i am likely to go exploring by 4 wheel drive with my camera or soft pastels. While I love the outback for its unique vegetation and colours, When i can, i return to my roots and do something coastal, that is inspired by my hometown region on the NSW south coast.
I am very proud of my work and grateful to my teachers at St George TAFE in the 90’s my work is painted with love and care to give the buyer years of enjoyment and pride. my work is well received by collectors, homemakers, artists and gallery visitors and will, i hope, lift your spirits and impress your guests. Each look at it often brings new discoveries hidden in the details, the more you look the more you will see interesting colours and brush marks and subtle details. Depending on the subject Painted, the viewer can join me in their imagination and get lost for a while in an outback sand dune at sunset or under ultra clear blue sky or a full moon, walk in a stunning natural meadow of native wildflowers, glimpse an ocean beach through rainforest , swim in the reflections of a mirror like pool surrounded by red gums or find domestic details and new life in an abundant spring garden of cottage flowers. These are stories and glimpses into my world that i hope adds pleasure and richness to yours.
Thank you for taking the time to read my profile and look at some of my art work it means a lot to me.
Sue.