The artist’s love and appreciation of the bush is evident in this lovely landscape painting of three similar native trees, (Australian Eucalypt).
Using the ‘cropping’ technique employed by Impressionist painters, the artist has only painted the lower sections of their trunks. He has used yellow as the mother colour, and small amounts have been added to other colours in the painting, to give it a shimmering effect. Violet-red/brown colours used on the bases of the trees are in contrast to this colour, and their combination stimulates the viewer’s senses. There is a strong light source coming from the upper left of the painting. It is a fine, sunny day, and the painting has lots of energy.
It is an interesting composition, because the shadows of the trees and the slopes of the land in the distance form two parallel, diagonal lines across the middle of the canvas. A small stump of a tree is valued by the artist, and it holds place of importance between the two trees on the right. The artist has allowed for a lot of space on the canvas in order to bring attention to the aesthetic value of the simple things in nature, such as bark hanging loosely at the base of a tree.
Much time and effort was taken in dotting and dabbing (stippling) paint that forms the grass and trees. The sky’s grey, tonal qualities are in contrast to the darker, ‘stippled’ foreground, and by manipulating colours in this way the artist created an illusion of visual depth.
This is a delightful painting and one can feel a mood of peaceful joy.
Acrylic on Masonite, date unknown, probably mid-career. (Cleaned and framed.)
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