Only confirmed at the last minute, this exhibition of paintings of herbs and edible flowers celebrates the edible delights we can grow in our backyards and includes a program of talks, film screenings and meditations over Easter and the Anzac Day long weekend. All events are free. 

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here -  this is a  personal response to the work of Sydney Long by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Sydney Long - Spirit of the Plains

Spirit of the Plains is probably the best known work of Sydney Long. He spent part of his career striving for "soulful and graceful evocations of the spirit of the land, as did the Greeks and their beautiful myths." (thanks Wikipedia). This painting is the zenith of his work. Seen in real life, it's incredibly compelling.

Sydney Long - The West Wind

Sydney Long - Pan

He seems to be most well known for his symbolism paintings. He did achieve the poetry and evocation of the spirit he was aiming for, though it was a very Western spirit transplanted onto the very non-Western, Australian landscape. It was definitely a product of it's time (Art Nouveau era). Despite the oddness of ancient Greece myths set in the Australian bush, I think he achieved some stunningly beautiful work. Really being able to capture the spirit, or the essence, of a sentiment is difficult to do visually and something I admire.

Sydney Long - Flamingos

And sometimes, like Tom Thomson, he uses a decorative, pattern based line that flows. I love this effect.

Sydney Long - The Drover

Less odd was his adaptation of the sinuous dancing lines of Art Nouveau to the Australian landscape. Hills swirl, sinewy trees are formed into enveloping patterns and clouds dance. I think his vision of movement in these objects is inspirational.

Sydney Long - Pastoral Landscape

Sydney Long - The Valley

Once again I notice that Sydney Long's colour is very Australian. This is definitely something I am drawn to.  This attribute is part of why I also admire the works of Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Warwick Fuller. Time to pay closer attention to my own colour mixes.

Sydney Long - Evening

Sydney Long - Moonlight Pastoral

Something that's not mentioned of Sydney Long's work is it's luminous quality. All of his paintings that I've seen have this luminous glow to them. Have a quick scan through the examples here and you will see that many of these are backlit. The sky is a great colourful light and the foreground is a pattern with deep rich colour. Gorgeous floating pastels contrasted with dark sumptuous colour. It's a recipe that works and I am taking note!
 

Sydney Long - Moonlit Pastorale

Sydney Long - Moonlight Pastoral

Probably because his symbolic paintings grab so much attention, Sydney Long's nocturnes and moonrises don't seem to get a mention. He did piles of them (and seemed to name most of them Moonlight or Pastoral or variations thereof). I think they are beautiful. They capture the quiet serenity of being out in the open and free. Big relaxing breaths at the end of the day. Can you feel the magic of the moment of dusk when almost anything could happen?

Sydney Long - Pastoral

Just to put Art Nouveau in context, this is the sort of imagery that was being created at the time, also full of decorative sinuous linework:

Alfonse Mucha - Summer

Aubrey Beardsley - The Peacock Skirt

More Sydney Long links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Long
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/long-sydney-7225

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here -  this is a  personal response to the work of Warwick Fuller by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Cobar Overture

I once met a high end art industry valuer and auctioneer who was of the strong opinion that the last thing Australia needs is another landscape artist. Perhaps. I hope he meant we don't need any more mediocre landscape artists, but I suspect not. If that attitude was taken to heart by artists, then we would not have the work of Warwick Fuller to admire and enjoy.

Shark Bay Headland

We were visiting Broken Hill and curiously doing the rounds of the many art galleries in that small town in the middle of nowhere in the desert. It's the same trip that I got to see Pro Hart's work. Although there is a plethora of art and galleries in Broken Hill, the art is mostly appalling and made to make a quick buck out of tourists. So we'd dropped into yet another gallery and were mooching about when we saw a painting that jumped off the wall at us with life.

Sketch for Cliff Top, Sublime Point

Sofala Shed

Great paintings have presence.

The brushwork was incredible. I mean virtuosic. The vitality of the painting was breathtaking. We had stumbled across a Warwick Fuller landscape.

Spinifex in Morning Light

Spring on the Peel River

I've since seen many more of his works in person and gathered several catalogues of his paintings. And generally, the brushwork is always incredible. It's a hallmark of his work. It's a trait I admire and want to work towards mastering. These are emphatically paintings, not images.

Coastline Patonga

Grazing in the Valley

Warwick Fuller is a also painter of light and mood. To me his work continues on from the Australian Impressionists like Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts.

Rugged Gulley Bathed in Light

Sun on an Overcast Day

It's all about light, light, light. Australian light and Australian colour. I think he captures it beautifully. The colours are absolutely superb. I'm quite a fan of the colour of the Australian bush. It's subtle and unique and I think we should celebrate what we have. We're not Europe or America here. Our light and plants are different, and fantastic.

Shadows Cast, Mt Nameless

Meet the artist - Warwick Fuller demonstrates and chats about his painting while out on a camping and painting tour. Yet another landscape artist I like...

More Warwick Fuller links

Official site: http://www.warwickfuller.com/
Represented by: Katoomba Fine Art
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/warwickfuller

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here -  this is a personal response to the work of Paul Klee by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Twittering Machine - possible my all time favourite painting

I've been putting off writing this post on Paul Klee as I knew it would be such a difficult one for me to write. There are so many paintings of his that I admire that choosing would be a nightmare. It was. Which is why I ended up deciding to include so many.

Ad Marginem

What is it that attracts me to so many paintings of this one artist? For starters, he worked small and so was able to make an incredible number of paintings. There are many more to choose from than usual. In an age (ie. now) where massive paintings get the most kudos, it's good to be reminded that size is not everything.

Ancient Harmony

Fig Tree

But this idea of size is only a side interest. What I love about Paul Klee's work is the childlike quality. The innocence. The playfullness. The intimacy. It's the same set of qualities that attracts me to the work of a number of cartoonists, Michael Leunig in particular.

Good Place For Fish

The Mountain of the Sacred Cat

At the moment there is a fashion for whimsy, which also makes use of this set of qualities along with a dose of nostalgia. I'm not sure what it is about whimsy that repels me, perhaps it's that it feels a little contrived and sugar or even saccharine coated. So I guess there's another ingredient in Klee's work too, something approaching genuineness.

Polyphon Gefasstes Weiss

Paul Klee was already an excellent musician when he decided to become a visual artist. Many people, including myself, sense that his paintings are pictures of music. Music is an excellent form for conveying emotion and these works are like visual poems, evoking moods (with what I find to be an enjoyable touch of intellectualism)

Ripe Harvest

I also enjoy the sense of calm that always seems to be present in these paintings. Although I know that some of them are anti war paintings, I look at them and feel they have all come from a very centred and still place. There's no guts or glory or anxiety ridden navel gazing. They are quiet pictures.

Signes En Jaune

His art often contains some symbolism, something that often seems to attract me to artworks when it's done with subtlety. Another common attraction I've begun to notice is tonally related or limited colour.

Paukenspiele

Paul Klee was incredible for experimenting. Materials, style, techniques, subjects. This I admire. His experimental approach meant that he developed his own visual style and did not follow trends of the day. What a fabulous legacy, though I imagine his experimenting with materials causes conservators endless headaches. While I aim to avoid making art that won't last, I do value trying new ways of doing things and not swallowing 'it's always been done this way' without thinking.

More Paul Klee paintings

A Childrens Game

Composition

Bird Garden

Abenteur Schiff

Abstract Composition of Houses

Ad Parnassum

Analysis of Diverse Perversities

Around The Kernel

Castle Garden

Castle and Sun

Cat and Bird

Fire in the Evening

Fish Magic

Flora di Roccia

Flower Myth

Fruchte Auf  Rot

Gedanken Bei Schnee

Heroic Strokes of the Bow

Homes Of The Tree

Im Bachschen Stil

Insula Dulcamara

La Belle Jardiniere

Lady Apart

Landscape with Yellow Birds

Main Lane and Side Lanes

Mask of Fear

Orpheus

Pastoral (rhythms)

Picture Album

Red Balloon

Rose Garden

Rote Weste

Scheidung Abends

Senecio

Sinbad the Sailor

The Golden Fish

Three Houses and a Bridge

Cathedrals

More Paul Klee links

Paul Klee Centre http://www.zpk.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me. 

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.