My 2014 Portraits of Artists show at Metropolis Gallery was a turning point in my painting, a move towards works that are freer and bolder. It was also when I made the decision to commit to becoming a full-time professional painter, with the hope of making a living from what I love doing. I’m thrilled that a work from that show, ‘Renoir’, has been selected as a finalist for the 2015 Warringah Art Prize.
‘Renoir’ was painted in thick impasto using palette knife and fingers. I was thinking of him as a person, not just a painter. I used greys and hints of colours to depict the frailty of his illness in his older age, I instinctively painted in those colours. One side is dull and grey showing sickness, but the colour coming through in the rosy cheeks shows there’s still zest and life in him. I used swirls of colour and light to show him as a passionate man, the person beyond the illness.
The 2015 Warringah Art Prize will be showing from 28 August until 6 September at the Warringah Creative Space, 105 Abbott Road, Curl Curl, Sydney.
Finalist 2015 Warringah Art Prize, Sydney, NSW
