Hush – The quiet spirit of the landscape

“Over the last two years, my travels across country have enabled me to absorb the diverse landscape of Australia. From the wilderness of Cradle Mountain in Tasmania to the oscillating silence of the East MacDonnell ranges in the Northern Territory.

In some places I have stopped, broken my journey for a few brief moments, when a particular tree has reached out and caught my eye, the light animating its branches and foliage. And at other times I have sat for hours and absorbed the spirit of the valleys, hills and coastlines and watched their shadows dance across remote corners of the country.

The one thing that seems to connect all of the places I have chosen to paint is the peace and tranquility that comes from a deliberate interaction with nature and I have tried to allow that feeling into the works on show.

Each piece began with a field study; a quick ten minute sketch in black and white or in some cases, a longer more detailed painting usually in gouache. The act of bearing witness to a subject and painting what I see, hear, sense and feel, is crucial to my practice, the marks on paper, embedding the sense of place in my memory. Back in the studio, I take licence with colour and composition, not wishing to paint a factual truth but my impression of a place and a moment in time.”

– Mike Staniford