Lost In The Light

This series of work was once again inspired by my relationship with the landscapes that have framed my sometimes turbulent life. Since my last solo exhibition, I had returned to parts of Australia and Europe, reconnecting with familiar places and reliving evocative memories and feelings these locations inspire. These works, however, do not represent any particular location. They are more a personal interpretation of the landscape, its mood, and the emotions that are created by the spirit of place through memory.

I have always found poetry to be inspirational. I believe there is a close relationship between poet and artist. Award winning Australian poet, Anthony Lawrence, wrote in a poem, “Old Light On A New Story”, about one of my paintings…

“Oils and ink, we bring shared visions to the page and canvas, our long preparations given wings.”

In the paintings in this exhibition, I was exploring the changing light in the landscape. The play of the light on the same landscape at different times of day has always interested me. Beaches, rugged coastlines, inlets and estuaries, mountains and valleys such as the Capertee Valley, where I sometimes paint from a rustic studio, all feature in this recent work.

The relationship between light and emotion was underlined for me by a few lines from Thomas Moore’s poem, “The Light of Other Days’..

“Fond memory brings the light

Of other days around me ……………………………………………..

Sad memory brings the light

Of other days around me…”

Light influences both memories and landscape. It surrounds us and affects our mood. We are both lost in the light, and lost without it. The intricate relationship of memory and light has inspired the name of this latest exhibition, “Lost In the Light”.