Matingara Studios

eloquent dawn - ix

2012-01-22T01:30:00.000+11:00

this one pulls at me and pushes me away at the same time. i like the way the negative painting supports the golds and the shapes "almost" work. i have posted this for completeness of the series as it stands today. that is all.

eloquent dawn - x

2012-01-15T22:56:00.002+11:00

someone said - "this is not a traditional watercolor". i replied i am not a traditional watercolorist"...

:)

eloquent dawn - viii, vi and vii

2012-01-13T16:55:00.003+11:00

the continuation. trying to put together the inspirations of dawn with much looser shapes. sometimes it works - sometimes it don't...

number "viii" is seaside inspired. it is likely that "ix" will be too.

"vi" is cold and wintry.

not sure what "vii" is up to???

surf coast paintings

2012-01-11T11:05:00.005+11:00

we went down to the great ocean road for a holiday. looking out at the ocean, knowing that if we swam south we wouldn't hit land until we cam to antarctica. it is a weird feeling...

the top two paintings were the last two i did. the left has a cold sky, the right has a warm sky. see how they compare and each works differently...

i started by trying to capture the soft blues and greens of the cliff side plants... that hasn't yet happened to my satisfaction.

working here to recover shapes from the painted area.

eloquent dawn - iv and v

2011-11-20T22:28:00.001+11:00

the warm rose that actually looks cool with the greens (and is complementary) is what i am working towards...

eloquent dawn - iii - the willows

2011-11-20T22:26:00.001+11:00

this is becoming quite joyful now...

strident dawn - i and ii

2011-11-20T22:23:00.001+11:00

cool drippy shadows.

eloquent dawn i

2011-11-13T18:12:00.001+11:00

this is something new. i enjoyed the last misty series i did and everyone seemed keen for me to do more. to be honest, i was keen to do more - but i am always aware of trying to do something new...

willows at lakeside

2011-09-25T18:10:00.003+10:00

well hi. this painting is my first for the year. i know. i blame the ethernet mainly. (that is a semiprivate joke!)

this is pretty much an impression of the view outside my backdoor here in the suburbs of melbourne. it is a late afternoon light. i will try to capture impressions of other lights as we move through the spring...

melbourne lunchtime (de Graves street)

2010-11-14T15:35:00.002+11:00

ever since i started painting i have had a desire to paint some of the quaint and cool "alleyways" and lanes in melbourne, australia. mission number one was to do "de Graves street". this one once the home of the melbourne "soup nazi". anyway. i was walking by de Graves street the other day and it was a warm spring day and the light was gorgeous. so i snapped a few reference photos on my phone. i took these references and this is what appeared. this is a full sheet arches cp. all watercolor paints only. lots of yellow ochre. permanent crimson and cerulean.

autumn study - iv

2010-11-07T13:27:00.002+11:00

i like the cool/warm interplay of this. the warmth of Autumn and the cool of Autumn co-exist only a few feet away from each other. such is the nature of that season...

autumn study iii - 2010

2010-10-24T22:10:00.003+11:00

getting closer. still miles away though. need some carol carter-like magic i think...

autumn study ii - 2010

2010-10-20T23:15:00.003+11:00

a bit of a "zoom in". it has its good bits and not so good bits...

autumn study i - 2010

2010-10-19T23:45:00.002+11:00

yes. i know it is spring in australia. but i felt like painting autumn. this painting was ok but ordinary and i am out of practice.

however, i turned a trick in a few seconds and the painting went from ordinary - to extraordinary. at least for someone a tad out of practice...

ask me - and i might tell you how... :)

classical geese

2010-06-20T23:42:00.002+10:00

a fun, mid-winter commission piece. wish i could have spent longer developing the idea. this is sort of a fifties feel. but i like some of the color. it is sort of retro in a fun way.

18th avenue crystallized (blue)

2010-06-12T00:11:00.002+10:00

i have not shown this piece on my blog before. and since i have been crazy busy the last few months with lots of things i thought i would put it here. this is large for a watercolor (unless you are nick simmons).

i will be painting again soon. it is winter. the winter muse is calling...

streeton roberts mccubbin awards exhibition 2010

2010-05-16T11:26:00.003+10:00

the sherbrooke art society will be holding its 2010 awards exhibition from 22 may 2010 through 6 june 2010 at the gallery. 62 monbulk road, belgrave, victoria,

this is a great gallery to visit, not only because of the generally excellent quality of the artwork but also for the magnificent "rainforest" setting in the dandenong ranges. the trees are autumnal and full of color. the chestnut man is roasting fresh local chestnuts. there is a nip in the air as we head toward our winter. across the road from the gallery is a terrific tavern that sells guinness and other beers and ales on tap.

definitely a worthwhile outing. here is a "phone" snap of me getting ready to deliver my entries. the art society is fairly "traditional" in its approach. so, my entries are unlikely to win an award. but, i will be happy to put these pieces on show.

north end

2010-03-28T20:48:00.003+11:00

this is just a study. i thought it was too dark. but i like the composition and several other elements. this is the sort of thing i do not always share. but, afdter all, that is kinda what a "blog" is for......

burns and braes...

2010-03-08T21:41:00.002+11:00

hmmmm. tired from so much color etc...

melbourne autumn - 2010

2010-03-08T21:34:00.001+11:00

hmmmmmmmmm............

sketches post-Alvaro

2010-02-25T23:00:00.006+11:00

you say "al-VAR-o". he says "AL-var-o". one thing we all say is that he can sure paint a mean watercolor.

for three torrid days in the company of this master painter i found myself challenged. i soon realized that no one painter can copy another painter's techniques successfully. but, by golly, one can learn a heap of stuff.
for weeks after the class i tried to incorporate what Alvaro taught into my paintings. what i have learned is and will be very valuable to me going forward. here are a coule of sketches that lean heavily on some of Alvaro's favorite subjects. they are really quite abstract and atmospheric. but i am pleased with how they have taken me in a new direction and expandeed my horizons...

turbulence (blue)

2010-02-07T20:51:00.002+11:00

so cool. been watching some work by the master (Arnold Lowrey) and putting my own spin on it. this led to a powerful, spooky result. something only watercolor can do. barely in control. neat stuff.

"New Season" heads to Shanghai!!!

2010-01-11T20:39:00.004+11:00

This painting ("New Season") made the initial cut for the Zhujiajiao watercolour show at Expo 2010 in Shanghai! This is so exciting for me! (i.e. i just had to share the news). No guarantee of making the final cut - but to get this far makes me both proud and humble!

warm 2010 sketches

2010-01-06T21:33:00.006+11:00

the warm side of the palette comes out in summertime. and it is summer here in australia. these sketches all use the same premise. gold tempered with scarlet as a first wash. clouds introduced in blues, violets and indigo.

blues and violets are then added for vague middle ground shapes. then, of course, one goes off the rails entirely in my wet-in-wet way. sigh.

and then, back again. anyway, this is how the hew year has started for me. hope all is well with you...

facets of evening

2009-12-29T16:09:00.002+11:00

hello. i have been working on several new painting projects and attempting to become comfortable with figures as a natural part of the landscape. which, of course, they are. even in an impressionistic painting you need to get the "gist" of the figures "just so" or the whole thing is a waste of time. this piece is one of the ones that made the cut so far. there are others that are close - but they are still under evaluation by the committee. :)

under vines - i

2009-12-02T23:41:00.002+11:00

i didn't like this much when i finished it a week or so ago. but looking at it again i notice that it has somewhat grown on me. it is stark. dry. hot. australian. it has a singing combo of violets and yellows. and i like the way the green hill supports that solitary tree against the sky.

this is not in my wet-in-wet style that i really like best. but. it has a nice naive quality.

between the lines - i and ii

2009-11-21T22:35:00.005+11:00

this is an interesting one. i have wanted to do something along these lines for a while. a lass named nikki spannuth posted a black and white photo on facebook that made a perfect subject. i was most interested in the way the light draws the viewer and the subject toward the unknown of the distance. i am not entirely happy with this piece - but it is a good start. i find that it is harder to please myself these days. that means i am either become better or worse - or, perhaps, grumpy...

i was going for a "dog day" afternoon motif. the ones remembered. the unyielding light and the softening shadows. there is something remembered about this - something very 60's, dylanesque. perhaps overly romantic. it is perhaps too busy. the shadows not strident enough against the light in the foreground. maybe it should be starker and more simple. the light going into the distance is there - but the rest of the piecee fails to uphold that. that is what i do not like.

so, here is the second version. smaller. starker. more strident. simpler too. can be simplified further i think...

bush gloaming - i and ii

2009-11-15T18:50:00.004+11:00

a new color experiment. interesting how it went in a totally different direction as i chose two or three pigments that were totally different to my winter ones...

i just need to work on the shapes a little. but it feels like somewhere i have been many times before... then. later that night. we went in a slightly different direction. not quite as intended. but close.

frost killing hour - xix - aftermath

2009-11-03T19:00:00.003+11:00

the first wash of this piece was so lovely. soft. violets made from FUB and permanent rose. and, of course, water.
it was almost "achingly" sweet. Ian would have called it "sweet" perhaps in a perjorative way. however, he would not have said this in a negative way. he would have meant "it is too sweet for ME to paint. but it is OK for you"

i had to struggle to touch it again. i thought about balancing the sweetness with something harsh. burnt. post bushfire. that is part of where this has led. showwing that a bushfire scene when made very cold, looks even more stark and somber.

no provenance without metadata

2009-11-01T18:25:00.002+11:00

ok. here goes. the last few months have been spent doing very cold work. watercolor is a very organic medium (despite being 100% inorganic!).

so the weather is warmer and i started to do "frost killing hour - xx" and ended up with "yields to spring - i"!!!

i know i am working "wide screen" alot. i know i am obsessed with either pure flat horizon or roads and rivers etc. but at the moment i am painting moods and not shapes. so. here is:

"yields to spring - i".

frost killing hour - are we there yet???

2009-10-11T23:06:00.005+11:00

no. we are not there yet. are we? no. i think not. i watched a youtube video done by Arnold (Lowrey) last week. he makes a wonderful job of it. and he "pushed" the series "frost killing hour" in a different direction. normally, i would not show the "meta workings" of a painting - but this time i am. what the heck, eh? the really disastrous attempts and the sketches are kept hidden. but the pieces that i sign and annotate on the back (title, date and notes) i am numbering and publishing here in the blog. that is what a blog is for isn't it? so arnold was doing cool stuff with reflections, snow, water, castles and razor blades. and that lead me here:
this is "frost killing hour - xv". we will get to "xiv" later. i wanted no life at all in this. no evidence of life. the rocks in the foreground worried me - but they do repeat the cold of the sky. arnold had mentioned that a patch of "manganese" blue in the sky and a touch of warmth in the subjects was important. i also used "burnt umber" which is something arnold uses and i have avoided like the plague - forever. when mixed with colors it does wonders for cold winter skies. so i will keep using it.

i will post several other pieces in this series that i have done this weekend - during this week. i am not really happy with any of them. but i am happy enough with aspects of each of them.

:)

-- joel.

frost killing hour - xii and xiii

2009-10-04T23:05:00.003+11:00

a continued evolution - albeit somewhat inerrupted. am i heading toward the sights of frost and mist over country that was recently tortured by bushfires or is this simpler that that?

i have several ideas to revisit yet. i feel like i have all the time in the world to paint this series. time is not pressing...

frost killing hour - x - (the road)

2009-09-21T13:01:00.006+10:00

i feel this strange magnetic pull. as i explore the nether regions of winter. it is a composite of feelings and it evokes memories of the emotions stirred up by reading "the road". so the ideas became confluent - one with another. when one works alla prima - wet-in-wet - you need to watch like a hawk and develop what appears. you start with a general idea and then hope and pray that something worth keeping appears. that is how it works for me anyway. i like the invocation of snow and frost in this piece. the way it appears in the clearing in the distance and not so much amongst the forest (just like REAL life...). this recession works for my brain despite breaking an obvious rule of impressionistic painting or painting in general

:)

peace.

frost killing hour - v++ (so it goes)

2009-09-13T22:11:00.008+10:00

NUMBER 5

the evolution of a painting idea for me is normally a private matter. if the idea is exposed and goes nowhere it runs the risk of being a half-baked embarassment. but actually, that does not matter,,,
NUMBER 8

number "vi" may be the best result in the series so far. but that is if i am the judge. and i am not allowed to be the judge. fkh "v" has better shapes, imho...

NUMBER 6

so, these are the next paintings in the "frost killing hour" series. thanks again to natalie for the inspiration.

Well content loves the silence
It thrives in the dark
With fine winding tendrils
That strangle the heart
They say that promises sweeten the blow
But I don't need them, no
I don't need them
I've been treated so wrong
I've been treated so long
As if I'm becoming untouchable
I'm the slow dying flower
In the frost killing hour

NUMBER 7

Sweet turning sour anduntouchable
Oh, I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
Oh, I need this
I need a lullaby
A kiss good night
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

so it goes...

frost killing hour - iv (evolution?)

2009-09-05T18:51:00.002+10:00

not sure whether we are going forward or back. but thought i would post it anyway. :)

frost killing hour

2009-09-03T15:10:00.005+10:00

sometimes you get an idea that will not go away. despite work and long hours and everything else. i am so lucky to have an outlet for these ideas - thanks for looking. sorry it has been a while.

I'm the slow dying flower
In the frost killing hour
Sweet turning sour and untouchable
Oh, I need the darkness
The sweetness
The sadness
The weakness
Oh, I need this
I need a lullaby
A kiss good night
Angel sweet love of my life
Oh, I need this

inspiration comes in many forms. sometimes it is a late night of work with that right tune and lyric at the right moment (thank you Natalie, you are a true genius). there is more to come when it stops thundering here,,,

evoluzione tranquillità

2009-04-14T23:54:00.010+10:00

here is an evolution. what i really want to develop is the glimpses into the forest. i want to make them beckon with magnetic mystery. i think i found the right combination of pigments and techniques to do this - but i have yet to achieve it completely. this piece shows some promise in that direction.

first look at the piece in its entirety.

then look at these two magical glimpses that appear in the LHS - these are what attract me and my eye and my senses.
see what i mean? those are deeply where i want to go. only time will tell...

more tranquil places...

2009-04-14T23:47:00.001+10:00

i seem to be able to make two similar pieces if i do them at the same time. if i tried to come back to it and re-do it in the future - i would evolve it or change it. funny that. here i went heavy on the darks in order to pop the lights. similar shape and comp to the other PT pieces. the next blog post will show the evolution - i hope.

vineyard days

2009-03-25T23:31:00.006+11:00

so i sit here contemplating. i have this painting. i thought it was ok. then i posted it on facebook and BAM - lots of response - from people who don't even know i am a painter or even follow my work in any way. so. i guess it strikes some sort of a chord somewhere. i decided to look at it again. why does a painting work? why does this painting work? that cannot be answered in a sentence. or even two.

some theories. broken color. breaking a color with its complement creates excitement. Nick does it naturally - but keeps saying he does not understand color theory. fine Nick. you understand it in your soul. look closely at the foliage of the tree. yeah - it is green - but look closely and you will see reds. and yellows getting down with violets in there also. composition. the purists will hate this composition. but it works despite breaking rules. why. no answer. the purists don't always get it right. the sky. this is a very australian sky. a very autumnal sky. this sort of sky intensifies the chroma of the foreground. whereas, a summer sky washes out the color.

those are my crackpot theories. enough.

tangled up in violets

2009-03-20T23:19:00.003+11:00

working my way back towards blue...

passed by here...

2009-02-10T17:14:00.002+11:00

alla prima impressions of drought, rain, fire and australia. poignant - not poignant enough? who can tell. emotions are skittish and rise and fall like an unleashed set of tides...

Forrest Caves Approach (Impressions)

2009-02-06T17:46:00.002+11:00

These were done after a day of observing the dune strewn abd grassy coast lands of Summer in Australia.

passage tranquille #3 and #1

2008-11-09T15:01:00.006+11:00

i first did something like this two years ago. as a whimsy. people always "oohed" and "ahhed" at the framed version. i guess it is eye catching. so - i am doing some more of them now. the original ("passage tranquille #1) was bought by a local psychologist. she said it calmed her and she hoped it would do the same for her patients. i wonder if the subsequent pieces will live up to the first piece?

#1

st. michael's in the snow

2008-11-03T16:31:00.003+11:00

This is an alla prima piece. simple. three pigments. maybe four. yeah four. aureolin, maimeru blue violet, phthalo green and a touch of alizarin. from a distance it is actually photo-realistic. which is amazing considering the lack of detail. 15x22". a lot of fun.

cathedral

2008-11-02T14:01:00.001+11:00

something new. may need more edge treatment? full sheet arches.

mallee spring

2008-10-30T23:25:00.002+11:00

this one was done at the end of last year. i love the foreground in this. the brain fills in most of the detail. the color very much lends support to the structure that the brain interprets. imho.

-- joel.

Blessing of Light

2008-08-25T14:36:00.003+10:00

i did this about a year ago. i called it up randomly and made it my background wallpaper at work.

i have this new fancy 22 inch lcd screen and i keep staring at it. the painting has "re-mesmerized" me! this is a painting very much in my unique style. it is a very colorist piece and uses color theory to complete the painting. it is very balanced.

i have not painted much lately as we are having a deep, dark winter. the gas in my studio went out. i need to re-light the pilot light etc etc etc.

if you stop by and look at this - let me know if you like it as much as i do. -- joel.

Blossom

2008-06-29T21:54:00.003+10:00

So yeah. Here is my latest piece. As you can see (perhaps) i tried using some of the edge treatments taught by Nicholas Simmons. It is amazing how they make the lights "pop"! Wow. i am pleased with the result. this one is only 17x17 inches. i need to make it much larger. glad to be back painting. keep the faith.

new season

2008-01-03T13:37:00.000+11:00

i am posting an atmospheric piece i recently did here. this is the one i think Nick said has a "gigantic sky". well it is a nice sky and the rain effect works well - i think.

this was done using Art Spectrum Cerulean and Vermillion. these two pigments granulate and separate magnificently - plus they are pure complements and grey down like nothing else on Earth.

i want to try this technique with the Da Vinci Fluid acrylics. oh - and i still have this piece (somewhere safe (i think)). i might do a show later this year and need to start cranking out material for it - so i won't sell this just yet...

playing with water

2007-12-23T23:37:00.000+11:00

so. it is late. i played a bit with water tonight. this looks encouraging. i was playing with pigments that "enhance"color separation. won't show them all here. getting the turkey tomorrow! yay for the Holidays. Thank God for the rain...

nicholas simmons

2007-12-21T18:35:00.001+11:00

this painting "fresh sushi" was painted by the artist nicholas simmons. (i have reproduced this here without his permission). it won a major prize this year at the NWS. it is one of the most exciting pieces of art i have ever seen.
let me say this about nicholas. not only is he a brilliant artist - but he gives of himself to help and encourage other artists.
the fact that he likes my work literally blows me away! thanks nicholas!
www.nicholassimmons.com

sandra

2007-12-21T18:24:00.001+11:00

this is a sketch of sandra. sandra is also known as "sexy swedish babe". you can follow her exploits at her flickr page.
i am on holidays for the next few weeks and i will be taking this piece further
i asked sandra for her permission to paint her. she was chuffed and loves the sketch.

The world according to Waldo

2007-12-20T15:26:00.000+11:00

he still thinks digital watches are cool!