Strange Awakenings

Winter has descended and fog skims the surface of the Newcastle Harbour. The city is eery and cold but there is a hum of energy, a quiet murmur, a distant howl. Whilst people may have vacated the outdoors for the comfort of their couches, a new community has moved in and is enlivening the abandoned space. They are an unusual bunch of feathers, teeth and horns, that lick the paint stripped walls of the city and trip you over as you turn a corner. They are transient and inconspicuous and have come to town to catch you when you least expect it !

Keep your eyes out at: http://boointhestreets.blogspot.com.au/

New Works on Paper

White Wash
Gouache, charcoal, collage on paper
50x40cm 2013

In preparation for the the Works On Paper Competition at the Hazelhurst Regional Art Gallery I have a completed a new series of collage, gouache and charcoal works. The series consists of four pieces  that reflect on the working  industrial harbour of Newcastle and is a result of twelve months of work. Earlier sketches have been cut up and reconfigured with new gouache paintings so as to make layered collages. The compositions are loosely based on the  landscape with figure ground relationships between stormy skies and turbulent ocean, fishing trawlers, smoke stacks and freight ships.  Abstract planes of colour are incorporated too, so as to challenge the depth of field whilst meditating on the palette that dominates the industrial environment. Yellow  is a reoccurring colour that can be located on the hulls of ships. the sandy beaches and on the backs of high visibility of workers. Most notable is Ship Entering The Port that uses a yellow panel like a flat piece of signage that simultaneously seeps into the ocean of the composition. In contrast, works like White Wash, are more narrative driven and use shapes like characters that are playing a game of hovercraft on the surface. The technique of cut and paste isolates the shapes and creates a fun contrast that offers a sense of comic relief to the sometimes austere industrial landscape.
Stay tuned to find out if any of the series have been selected as a finalist !

This series can be viewed in the En Plein Air album located on the right column of this blog page.