This painting was made en plein air and finished in the studio, over 3 days. The detail in the painting and the soft bursts of white blossom draw the viewer in, as though to walk on the path in the painting.
Oil on board, unframed, 30 x 30 cm
These oil paintings depict ancient valleys, still trees and fleeting moments in nature. The tiny alla prima sky paintings are painted swiftly to enhance the gestural spontaneity of the mark-making and evoke the constantly changing colours and forms in the sky. These works contrast with images of dense bushlands, painstakingly developed over weeks, that seem to both resist entry and invite the viewer to become entangled in their deep space. The former act as portals to expansive space, carrying you, the viewer, towards other-worldliness while the bush landscapes invite you to experience your relationship to the earth. They metaphorically enfold or entice you in a grounded, intimate and mystical experience. The plein air paintings were made outdoors in various locations around the Blue Mountains and in the Capertee Valley. They evoke the majesty and grandeur of those places, capturing their primeval stillness, and the shifting light and colours in sure, rapidly applied brushstrokes.
