Martin Clarke - where the land meets the sea

"I'm an ordinary bloke with an extraordinary interest in painting. I've been told I'm talented, but I have to disagree. It's not talent, it's a knowledge and love of the subject, it's painting many, many pieces, it's making mistakes and learning from them, it's observing the light and the colour, it's the hope and belief that the next piece is going to be your best piece, it's the constant, unending striving for the perfection you know you will never attain, but for which you reach nonetheless. I'm fascinated by water, the coast and waves, the result of many years of surfing and searching for that perfect wave. Along the way I have picked up a pretty good knowledge of the ocean, and I'm interested with the way light can interact with the ocean, or with lots of objects for that matter. Light plays a major role in my work, the way it shapes and colours form, the way it can reflect and refract, causing a dazzling bright or a warm and mysterious dark.

People ask where my inspiration comes from. Have you ever walked on to a beach on an early Summer's morning, and seen the ripples dance over the multicoloured shallows with a dark ocean beckoning beyond? Have you ever sheltered behind a rock in a Winter's storm and seen the sun rays lancing down to light storm tossed, angry waves? Have you ever stood on the shore and watched and listened to the boom of huge Autumn surf pounding out the back, with the sun glistening off towering wave faces and the spray sparkling like a million diamonds as it's blown off the lip? Have you ever seen Spring's warming waters change colours as the weather changes, from steel greys to dazzling blues, from sandy yellows to breathtaking turquoises? If you have, you know where my inspiration comes from. If you haven't, I hope my work can help to take you there."

Marty

http://www.martinclarke-art.com/

Bob Abrahams - Artist

Paintings by Bob Abrahams are impressionistic in style. Essentially a tone and atmospheric painter, Bob searches for the light, using creative colour and painterly brushstrokes to enhance the effects. Since retiring from a successful business career in 2000 he has taken a more professional approach, painting most days.

Bob’s interest in art became serious when he completed an Arts Diploma at Perth Technical College while working full time in a demanding business career. As an artist specialising in landscape and still life, he spends much of his time painting from life and on location in and around the city of Perth. He has also made regular painting expeditions to the north west of the state and other regions. Recent works can be viewed from his Resident Artists studio at Ellis House Community Art Centre in Bayswater

Many paintings have been sold through local and regional art galleries, Artisan Gallery Subiaco, Monet Gallery Guildford, The Mill Gallery York and community exhibitions by WA Society of Arts, Riverside Painter’s, Ellis House and other. Successful exhibitions have been held at Dalkeith Dome with Bernice Wright and at the Old George Gallery with Maureen Silc and Panisca Carnaby, and with David Hinchliffe at Ellis House. A growing list of Bob’s painting awards such as the Presidents Selection and Laurie Bennet plein award at WASA and the hundreds of happy art collectors on E-Bay are a good indication of the quality of his work.

Bob’s E-Bay Painting Store
http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/ABRAHAMS-ORIGINAL-PAINTINGS__W0QQ_armrsZ1

Bob’s Every Day Painting Blog
http://abrahams08.blogspot.com/

Ursula Theinert - the power to start again

"Werner and I are a small part of the whole of Victoria
affected by the Black Saturday Fires. We all felt that
we were under siege and that we had to deal with
what life had dealt us.
The stresses and hardships varied from person to
person, but what was shared was the bonding of that
terrible summer and that soul searching day. Out of the
darkness of the fires came the great spirit of the
community to help and heal each other.
Werner and I feel incredibly lucky and will never
forget all the support and kindness, and we will carry
all of these experiences into our future.
Thank you."

Ursula Theinert

http://ursulatheinert.com.au/

staging.rav.net.au/storyboard/assets/black-saturday-callignee-7th-feb-2003.pdf

Adam Bogusz - a family man

Our favourite spot - Adam Bogusz

"My passions in life are my family, my wife Sarah and my two awesome kids John and Sophie. I love painting and the freedom it gives me to work at home. I wouldn’t change it for anything."

"Bosusz says becoming a painter was partly a
quest for identity.
The artist concedes the other inpetus to
becoming a painter was financial. He wasn't
making a living from music and was still
living at home. However, Bogusz says it is
hard to be true to the creative impulse when
commercial considerations come into play.
"It's like this monkey over your head all the
time," he says. "When a gallery phones and
says, ''We could have sold that painting 20
times over', a part of me wants to rush off to
the studio and reproduce the work - almost
like rubber stamping. I've done that in the
past, but as soon as you do... something dies.
You don't know it is happening, but it's no
longer fresh."
Bogusz feels the best work results from
spontaneous moments. "The best way I can
describe it is when a piano player is able
to stop looking at the keys and just play
the music," he explains. "It's the same with
painting. When you're not thinking about
it and it just happens. There's such a sense
of magic and you have no control over it."

Affair - Arts and entertainment
I love Adam's almost naive style and his contrasting colours - there is so much life in his paintings.
The two works I own are two of the happiest places on my wall. Take a look at his impressive collection. Enjoy!

http://www.adambogusz.com.au/