Painting in Provence, France

Lavender Fields near Sault, with Mount Ventoux in the distance

Last year we were fortunate to travel from Sydney and spend a week painting "en plein air" with Julian Merrow-Smith in the Vaucluse area of Provence. Julian is well known for his blog featuring the daily auction of his small paintings  "Postcards from Provence" .

In addition to Julian's expert mentoring whilst painting this wonderful landscape, we were accommodated at La Madelene, and what an exceptional experience it was. It is a beautifully renovated 12th century priory near Malaucene.  

La Madelene 

Our hosts Philip and Jude are exceptional hosts.  Click to read more
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Paintings of Coogee - effect of light conditions on the subject

After all the rain in Sydney it was good to get out in the sun again.  Visited Coogee beach on a lovely sunny day and did a small watercolour of the bright light hitting the surf life saving club and hotel.

Coogee, Sydney, Australia
Watercolour, ink & gauche on Strathmore 300gsm
5.5 x 8.5 inches (14 x 21cm)

A few months ago I painted a larger oil showing the view just after the sun went down. The combination of the night light and ocean reflections provided stunning light & atmosphere.  Although the two were painted from a different viewpoint, they both feature the surf life saving club on the left and the Grand Pacific private hotel with the Barzooka restaurant to the right of it. (which incidentally is recommended for lunch and dinner)

Coogee Evening
Oil on Canvas
24 x  24 inches (60 x 60cm)

The same subject with two very different light conditions -  the uniqueness of a painting is very much about the prevailing light and atmosphere. Any views?

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Nocturnal Painting - Three Amigos at the Domain near Sydney Hospital & Parliament House Sydney

I am finding the city at night an interesting place to paint. The light effects and shadows create interesting shapes and a sense of mystery which lends themselves to a more abstract quality in the paintings.

 

This painting came as I was heading home after an exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW, and my friends were waiting for me to catch up. The light behind them created mysterious atmospheric silhouettes.

 

  Oil on canvas, mounted on board 10 x 12 inches  (25 x 30 cm) $400   Click here to contact me  Like this Blog? Subscribe and receive new posts by email

Pearl Beach near Sydney, Australia.

 Every so often I participate in an art weekend with a group of friends, discussing painting methods, things that have inspired us, sharing ideas, watching art films, etc., etc.   A few weeks ago spent one of those wonderful weekend with friends who live at Pearl Beach, which is just north of Sydney, Australia. 
 

 My plein air (painted on site) paintings and sketches from that weekend, are shown below.  

Pearl Beach, near Sydney Australia
12 x 10 inches  (30 x 25cms)
Oil on board
 

It was a beautiful clear sunny day & we sat high on the rocks above, to paint this one. Evidently the name of the beach comes from the pearl shapes made by the waves in the wet sand.

The next day we descended to the beach where the light was quite different to yesterday, being quite dark and cloudy during the early morning. 







Pearl Beach
A couple of sketches using  watercolour pencil on paper

Pearl Beach Headland
A Oil on Canvas
12 x 10 inches  (30 x 25cms)


Four of our group will be attending the renowned Julian Merrow Smith's "Postcards from Provence"  plein air workshop in the south of France next year, which will be a wonderful experience.

 

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The Finger Wharves from Sydney Harbour Bridge

It has taken me about 50 years to discover that one can climb the southern pylon of the Harbour Bridge. What great views it provides.

 

Here is an oil painting that I did which captures the view looking towards the western side of the harbour bridge, & portraying the finger wharves below. The contrasting warm and cool light effects at this time in the late afternoon were very special.

Fingers  Wharves from Sydney Harbour Bridge

10 x 12 inches (25 x 30 cm), Oil on Canvas

 

The painting has now been sold from my website.   To subscribe to my newsletter featuring my new paintings, please click here

 

The cruise liner "Sea Princess" sails under the bridge as it made its way on another pacifc cruise

 

A watercolour sketch of circular quay and some photos looking east from the pylon, appear on my sketch blog "the Painted Journey".

 

Please note that the studio will be closed until early May, whilst I will be away in south america.

 

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Hawkesbury River, Sydney- Arthur Streeton and I.

A few weeks ago I travelled to paint the Hawkesbury River near Freemans Reach. The small plein air painting appears below.

Hawkesbury River near Freemans Reach
5 x 4 inches  (12.7 x 10cm)
Oil on Canvas.
 

I didn't realise it at the time but I was only a river bend away from where Arthur Streeton in 1896 painted the iconic "The purple noon’s transparent might". I love the deep (but low chroma) blue that Streeton uses in this painting.

The Purple Noon’s Transparent Might by Arthur Streeton  Oil on Canvas
123.0 x 123.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne  

The site is well marked now as "Streeton Lookout at Freemans Reach" overlooking the spot where Streeton painted the river. When Streeton discovered the Hawkesbury, the river became a subject for a  series of large works.  Streeton used unorthodox (for the time) shapes for his canvases and used a square one for this "panoramic" painting . He felt that he discovered "the great hidden poetry" of the Australian landscape in the ‘glory of river and plain spread before him.

 

Katherine Tyrrell has an informative post on Arthur Streeton on her blog "Making a Mark", and built a new website about Streeton with links to information and online images.

Streeton, Tom Roberts, Charles Condor, Frederick McCubbin and the other Australian Impressionists are well known for their plein air painting expeditions and "camps" near Sydney and Melbourne in the mid 1800s. The National Gallery of Victoria has a good overview reference of these sites at this link

 

I have recently sketched at a  couple of the other Sydney sites ( Coogee and Mosman Bay) that they painted at,  and they will feature in a couple of future posts.

My other blog "Painted Journey" has paintings and drawings from my second post about the painting trip to Central Australia around Alice Springs.

 

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First Light MacDonnell Ranges - Finalist St George Art Award

Continuing on from my previous post about my trip to Central Australia a few of us rose early one morning to catch the sunrise at a hill behind our camp at Ross River.

The light was something very special and as the sun peeped over the Macdonnell Ranges it sent out its first rays illuminating the river into a sparkling sliver of light.  So when I arrived back home, it was one of the memories that had to be painted.

24 x 24 inches (61 x 61cm)
Oil on Canvas

The 2012 St George Art Award is a national prize which has the theme of "New Beginnings". My painting capturing the start of a unique new day fitted well with this criteria. Fortunately it has been chosen as a finalist for the prize.

The prize will be announced on Friday 19 October 2012, and the exhibition will commence on Saturday 20 October - Sunday 16 December 2012 at:-
Hurstville Museum and Gallery
14 MacMahon Street
Hurstville  (Tues - Sat  10am to 4pm, Sunday 2-5 pm)


I have just released some new paintings, inckuding these shown below.

 

 These paintings and the other new ones can now be seen at my website http://www.marshstudio.com./newpaintings.html

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