Australian Artists: Ramon Ward-Thompson

Think Australian landscapes: think harsh sunlight, the bush, the outback, desert, sand, vivid blue sky. These are some of the images that come to mind. A "sunburnt country", beautiful, but harsh and sometimes cruel. This isn't always the case, however!

At certain times of the day - mainly dawn and dusk - and in certain weather, Australian landscapes (and cityscapes) take on a different face altogether. The relentless sun finally goes down, leaving gorgeous pinks, golds, and mauves, in its wake. The bush takes on a magical atmosphere, full of shadows and soft hues. Gum trees can look somewhat ragged in broad daylight, but at sunset, they come into their own, their colours and forms blending in beautifully with the soft sky.

Enough of my poetical soliloquy. . . 

My point is, what I love about this week's artist - Ramon Ward-Thompson - is his appreciation of and ability to capture the softness and the atmosphere of the Australian landscape when subdued by soft light or rain. There are very few other contemporary artists I know of who approach Australian landscapes in this way.

Wollombi Farm

Rainy Day Pittwater




Autumn Morning Swanston Street, Melbourne




Early Sunrise Over Lavender Day, Sydney




Hyde Park 

~~~~~

To view more works by this artist, click here.

Australian Artists: Richard Weatherley

Inspired by this beautiful book which I found at the library (and which is now sadly out of print, or else I'd probably buy myself a copy), I'm going to start a series of posts on my blog over the next few weeks. The artists I'll be featuring are: Australians, active during the 20th-21st centuries, and most of them will be artists who paint in a representational, or realist, manner.

~~~~~

Featured artist for this week: Richard Weatherly. Click here for his official website, or here for Wikipedia.

Forest Flight - Click here to view full-size reproduction

In the book I borrowed, there was another similar painting to this - like this one, it featured three Crimson Rosellas, but it was done from a different perspective - the canopy of the trees, rather than the ground. It had the most wonderful sense of flight and movement. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it anywhere on the internet - but nevermind, this painting is also very beautiful in its own way.

Spirit of Howqua - Click here to view full-size 

The awe-inspiring Wedge-tailed Eagle, Australia's largest bird of prey. I have a great love of Australian birds - when we went for long trips in the car, I used to take my "Field Guide to Australian Birds" and a notepad with me, and I'd make a list of all the different species I saw during the drive. I still do it sometimes! So, it's understandable that the paintings of Weatherly, a very talented bird artist, should hold a particular appeal for me!

 


Edge of the dunes - Click here to view full-size 

Unfortunately, the colours in this reproduction are very dull, and probably don't do the original work any justice. The Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo! They're large birds, and they have a very distinctive call - click here to listen!

Dance of the Water Fairy - Click here to view full-size

What an exquisite picture. I'm not 100% sure which bird it is. I think it's some kind of storm-petrel. My dad or grandfather will probably know exactly what it is. . .

Beautiful trees

Photo from Gardening Australia

Spring has sprung; indeed the weather is already uncomfortably warm sometimes, and it will very soon be summer. . .

Some of my favourite flowering trees are currently in full bloom. The wonderfully fragrant Native Frangipani (above), of which we are blessed to have 3 in our neighbourhood - one that is very large, one that is very small, and one that is somewhere in the middle. All of them are covered in gorgeous creamy flowers at the moment.

Now, this is possibly my favourite tree - the silky oak (above). It's not an oak at all, I believe they're  called silky oaks because of the beautiful timber they produce. There you go, a tree that is beautiful on the inside and the outside!

There are silky oak trees everywhere where I live, in town, and all over the countryside, but you don't really notice them until they start to bloom in October.

None of the photos I've got here really do them justice - they're such a bright, vivid shade of orangey-gold. 

Photo from EyeFetch.com

They are beautiful from a distance or at close hand. The foliage is silvery and fern-like, and the flowers are - interesting. Silky oaks are actually a  species of grevillea, but you don't realise it until you  examine them closely.

Orange is not my favourite colour - blue is! So why are silky oaks my favourite trees? I honestly have no idea. I don't know what it is -their brightness and vivacity, their curious mixture of ruggedness and grace. . . I'm not sure what it is in them that so captures my attention, all I know is that they're beautiful and I love looking at them. . . :-)

Click here for more gorgeous photos of these trees.

And of course jacarandas. . . jacarandas are absolutely beautiful, but I'm  afraid I'm a bit sick of them at the moment. I know I'm not being fair  on the poor trees, but I've just had enough purple for now.

Maybe I'm just a bit grumpy tonight, because it's impossible to deny that they are lovely trees. . .