biggest.painting.ever.

I just finished the largest painting I have ever done. oh yes. It was a monster. A beautiful big phthalo turquoise and prussian blue beast of a painting. 

 So 2.47mx 1.85m, way too many late nights, and more than 50hrs later....this is roughly how the story goes... (in just a snapshot...)

 

This was a commissioned work and as such there was constant communication with the client-  initial meetings and sharing sketches, colour consultations and in-home conferencing to get measurements. Then once the painting began photos were sent at every stage, and input from the client sought to ensure that the work was exactly what they were after. It was a great experience and it was incredibly rewarding to get such positive feedback throughout the whole process and see a client so exuberantly happy with their piece. So now it hangs, very well loved, in it's new home.

271 Austinville Road

Since the release of GOOD ART cards I've had lots of questions about the images, in particular '271 Austinville Rd' (acrylic on board, 180cm x 120cm, 2009). This painting is really a landscape taken from some sketches I did of a friends property on the Gold Coast. The paintings were part of the Abundant series, depicting joy as a landscape we can dwell in, using significant places and events as image sources. And this property is one such significant place. We have known these beautiful friends for over 10years and they have had an incredible impact on our lives. Whenever we visit this place there is calm, and revitalisation, and a 'filling' that happens. Such a beautiful location- secluded and quiet, with creeks and falls nearby. It truly is a special place to us-  plus we actually had our first real family holiday with there at the end of of 2008 with our son. Our friends generously offered their home to us for a few weeks while they were overseas- and after a busy season in our lives it was just what we needed! This is when I took the sketches and then came home and began the paintings.

I started by doing some pencil sketches while i walked from the front of the property, creating  a 'mud map' of the path I walked. 

 I stopped and took some sketches at different points around the property

 One of several initial drawings. (graphite and oil pastel on cartridge).  I took parts of my first sketches and did some drawings like this one where I started to focus in on some exaggerated lines, leaving out unnecessary detail and highlighting the most important features. 

'High Places'....getting there...you can see the clear relationship to the initial drawing, though the line work has been exaggerated and distorted some more, and the colours are different!

 'High Places' finished. 

'271 Austinville Road' The line work has been taken from a zoomed in view of the top half of the previous painting, and then further exaggerated and abstracted.  The lines are flowing and fluid. The colours are a bit softer in this one than the previous one. The palette is warm and rich- because thats how a significant place feels.  I wanted the viewer to feel embraced by the landscape.

So there you go. A brief history, and a little sneak at behind the scenes for '271 Austinville Rd'. Get your hands on a piece of it by grabbing some GOOD ART cards. All profits to provide lifechanging surgery for women in Nepal suffering uterine prolapse. Give health and dignity, and change a community- because when mother is well, children are fed and cared for,  and if mother can work then kids can go to school and get an education!!