Tag Archives: surreal

Underwater paintings

Underwater Paintings

At the moment I am completing a series of underwater paintings. Most of these paintings will be very colourful and have a cosmic element to them. For me, underwater paintings are similar to paintings of outer space.

Subject Matter

There will be a lot of jellyfish, seahorses, etc in these paintings. This series of underwater paintings will explore light and colour. Consequently, they will mix different media, including oil, ink, resin and other media. They will also seek to show the ‘other worldly’ nature of pictures representing under the sea.

jellyfish

Title: Jellyfish Size: 50 * 60 cm. Medium: Mixed media on canvas. Price: $380

This is one of the first paintings of the series. It is called Jellyfish. This painting uses oils and inks and resin. I hope to complete a series of these for an upcoming exhibition.

Techniques used in the underwater paintings.

These underwater paintings will be painted using many layers of paint and other media. The paint comes first. Then a layer or two of ink is added. More layers of oil and ink are added to increase the depth and the inner glow of the paintings. Finally, a layer of resin will be added to give increased depth and colour to the works. Not all the paintings will use resin.

These paintings will be portraits of jellyfish (like above), while others will have varying amounts of depth to them. These paintings will tend to be larger.

Another World.

Under the sea is like another world. Hence, it is an alien world where strange creatures inhabit. A cosmic element will be infused into the works emphasising the unfamiliar nature of this aquatic world. Therefore, these paintings will lean towards being surreal.

All the paintings will be ready to an exhibition due in mid January, here in Coffs Harbour. Hence, all the paintings will be for sale. I will tell everyone of the details of the exhibition in the coming weeks.

 

Small surreal paintings

Small surreal paintings

These two Small surreal paintings are titled Cycles of Habit and Sombre Landscape. They are both mixed on canvas and 42 * 29 cm in size. This has become a standard size for many of my small surreal paintings. Most of these works are actually situated in the small masters works page of this website. They have been added to a book I’ve compiled and left at the Professional Centre for viewing. This will be the first of many similar books of Small surreal paintings I hope to compile. Many of these small have sold, so they are proving to be quite popular.

 

Small surreal paintings

Cycles of Habit

Small surreal paintings

 

Sombre Landscape

You can also see some of them in the Surreal Mixed Media section of the website. I create most of these works through a purely improvisational approach. The paint goes on spontaneously from the outset. Often I work on about thirty or more of these works or more at a time. The layers are built up over a few weeks. I may spend an hour doing one layer on one, then another half hour doing a layer on another and so on. Occasionally ink is added to add depth, colour or vibrancy to the works.

Cycles of Habit incorporates ink into the design while Sombre landscape is done purely in oils.

Emerging Joys – a new painting.

Emerging Joys – a new painting.

 

Emerging Joys is another new painting showing at the Professional Centre. Here it is.

Emerging Joys

 

 

 

 

Emerging Joys. 

This painting can be found in the Surreal Mixed Media Paintings section of this website. All the details can be accessed in the usual way.

Like many of my surreal mixed media  paintings this work has been improvised from start to finish. The paintings is built up in layers of mostly oil paint. Ink has also been added to give the work a colourful edge which gives the painting the feeling of joy it expresses. The colours are mostly light. I have refrained from using darkness in the work to help express the happiness and liveliness of the topic.

An emerging joy can be the most pleasurable and exciting of all joys. When we anticipate something good coming the feeling of excitement is often greater than when the good thing actually arrives. The colours almost have a Christmas feel to them and the predominance of yellow helps to make everything glow. Light smothers everything. There are lights atop of lights in this painting.

While the mostly ink forms give the painting solidity and focus they do not dominate the work. Instead they help to bind the composition and keep the viewer’s eye moving around the work. The painting is only a small one which suggest the idea that the most special joys in lift come from the smallest and most insignificant things.

 

Mecha 2 – a new painting.

Mecha 2 is one of the new paintings in the exhibition. It’s 100 * 75 cm and painted in oils.

 

Mecha 2

 

 

 

 

Mecha 2. 

 

This painting is exclusively painted in oils. It is built up using thin layers of oil paint, which gives the work its inner glow. The first Mecha painting incorporated ink into the composition. However, this painting uses only oils. There is a lot of movement in this work and a lot of delicate blending was done in order to achieve this.

This is not a mega city like the first Mecha painting. It is a scene of a joy ride at a carnival. The movement is chaotic mimicking he oscillating movement of the fun park ride it depicts. Fun as a topic is something I find easy to paint. I use bright, unmixed colours in a lot of my works and this retains a freshness to my work. The lights in the painting not only depict the lights of the ride and the fun park but also the joy and fun of the setting. Mecha 2 is not without an element of danger though. The blurred central ride car has a slightly ominous look to reflecting the danger and fear which are a part of the thrill of fun park rides.

 

Latest exhibition – Retrospectus.

Latest exhibition – Retrospectus. 

Retrospectus is my latest exhibition. It will be held at the Professional Centre on the 21st of March 2013. It is subtitled ‘Celebrating 10 years of living and working in Coffs Harbour.’

There will be a variety of paintings produced in the last 10 years on display. There will also be music by Ava and a special guest appearance by John Arkin the ‘peoples politician’. Of course there will be the usual drinks and nibbles.

Hoping to see you all there.

latest exhibition - Retrospectus

 

 

 

 

Flier for Retrospectus.

In the last ten years in Coffs Harbour I have explored many topics and painting genres. I have probably concentrate on Botanical Paintings and Surreal Paintings mostly. However, the other sections represented on this site have also figured. The great thing about the Professional Centre is the higgledy piggledy space it offers. There are so many smaller spaces within the centre and also long halls and many offices. My paintings look great in the centre and the lighting is very flattering to my work.

Carol, who runs the  centre is always friendly and bubbly. She would be most happy to give you a tour of the exhibition if you visit during office hours. The centre is open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00 and closed on weekends.

Master of Arts – Honours.

Master of Arts – Honours.

I’ve started the second year of my Master of Arts (Honours). I’m continuing my exploration of representations of eternity, concentrating on works produced in the last 50 years. Most of the works looked at will be paintings, drawings, installations and new media art. The works will be positioned in relation to the modern Protestant view of eternity.

There will be a brief history of the various interpretations of eternity outlined. Then I will posit what the Protestant idea of eternity actually is. Next I will outline some features of our modern society which have an impact on both spirituality and the production of art. Finally I will catalogue a series of works produced in recent times which I feel explore the concept of eternity in a meaningful way. I was going to include music in my catalogue, but decided that there is not enough room or time to do this.

Lastly I hope to posit an assessment of what may be some useful ways of approaching the idea of eternity both now and in the immediate future.

It should be a lot of fun. I’ll post my final dissertation towards the end of the year.

Unlike the last Masters (which was practice based) this Masters is simply a written dissertation. However, I feel it will inspire me to continue producing works and expanding on ideas which I explored in my Master of Arts (Practice). I am looking forward to producing some new and exciting works on this topic.

Master of Arts