Prestige Art Auction Highlights

Every now and again an opportunity appears to show my work in an unexpected environment. I was included in the Noosa Open Studios Fundraising Art Auction. 16 Artists were selected to showcase their work at the Lucio's Marina Restaurant on Wednesday 16th July. It was quite an affair! Around 60 people came to enjoy beautiful food and drink some lovely wine while the auction proceeded online.

The day was full on. I had visitors, my family staying over and I was meeting the mother of my future daughter-in law. I had to deliver the painting Push Me Pull You to the Marina and we stayed for a bit to help with the hanging. Trevor and Beryl, the Lucio's staff and the technicians made for a busy scene.

Push Me Pull You was a cheeky choice to include in the auction. It is different in some ways from my more usual work. There is no horizon, the states of mind are represented by two heads, both quite different to the other, a minimalist human shape and a negative shape of a head. The colours are muted, a reduced spectrum and quite flat. The emphasis is on shape and line, dividing the picture plane into spaces that shift into another zone with the looping line pulling the eye across the canvas. There is a pressure, the only emotion in the work, created by the face contained by the solid white frame, The expression is gentle, piercing and engaging. A portrait of a self that is hidden yet present. The minimalist profile is in a style that contradicts the face, projects a closed off underdeveloped yet strong mask.

Push Me, Pull You 91.5 x 91.5cm oil on canvas

The work was inspired by a painting I did many years ago. The painting was entitled

'Light At The End of the Tunnel'. It shows a minimalist figure holding a bucket and spade, cut through as a section of a land form. The light, a deep cadmium yellow contrasts against the umber and balanced by the white. It was a painting I was very fond of. It spoke to me of a feeling I had. A hopeful one. That finally what ever I was going through would soon be over.

I gave this painting to someone to look after. When I went to retrieve it some time later, as I was finally 'free', I discovered that it had been destroyed.

So i endeavoured to repaint it. However, what evolved was unexpected. Push Me Pull You, is the energy of attraction and repel. The loop of our thoughts, that grab our attention and then the choice to not listen. Instead seek the quiet of clarity. It also refers to the creature in Dr Doolittle. I read these books as a child. The animal that could go both directions always fascinated me.

The artwork was purchased on the night of the auction. I was introduced to the buyer. It is always a wonderful experience to meet someone who has 'connected' with that very specific independent aspect of myself and wants to to take a unique artwork to live with them.