ARTWORK "Thinking of Ian Fairweather"

The reclusive artist Ian Fairweather, spent the last two decades of his life in a hut on Bribie Island where he created majestic paintings, mostly at night by kerosene lamplight, in his studio-house — a fit-for-purpose structure built from bush materials with an earth floor. Artist James Gleeson described the house as being ‘like a great bird’s nest’.

"Thinking of Ian Fairweather" Medium: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper. Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

Photograph of Fairweather by Robert Walker (from ‘Hut’ series) 1966, printed 2006.

Ian Fairweather’s artwork “Roi-soleil” -1956-1957

Sadness of the Moon - Poem by Charles Baudelaire

This painting titled “Sadness of the Moon” was inspired via the poetry of Charles Baudelaire from his book of poems, Les Fleurs du mal, (The Flowers of Evil).

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

“Sadness of the Moon” - SOLD

Below in English and French version of this poem.

Sadness of the Moon

Tonight the moon dreams with more indolence,
Like a lovely woman on a bed of cushions
Who fondles with a light and listless hand
The contour of her breasts before falling asleep;

On the satiny back of the billowing clouds,
Languishing, she lets herself fall into long swoons
And casts her eyes over the white phantoms
That rise in the azure like blossoming flowers.

When, in her lazy listlessness,
She sometimes sheds a furtive tear upon this globe,
A pious poet, enemy of sleep,

In the hollow of his hand catches this pale tear,
With the iridescent reflections of opal,
And hides it in his heart afar from the sun's eyes.

— William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil | Les Fleurs du mal (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954)

Tristesses de la lune

Ce soir, la lune rêve avec plus de paresse;
Ainsi qu'une beauté, sur de nombreux coussins,
Qui d'une main distraite et légère caresse
Avant de s'endormir le contour de ses seins,

Sur le dos satiné des molles avalanches,
Mourante, elle se livre aux longues pâmoisons,
Et promène ses yeux sur les visions blanches
Qui montent dans l'azur comme des floraisons.

Quand parfois sur ce globe, en sa langueur oisive,
Elle laisse filer une larme furtive,
Un poète pieux, ennemi du sommeil,

Dans le creux de sa main prend cette larme pâle,
Aux reflets irisés comme un fragment d'opale,
Et la met dans son coeur loin des yeux du soleil.

— Charles Baudelaire

Charles Pierre Baudelaire was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhyme and rhythm, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, and are based on observations of real life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire

"One O'Clock In The Morning" | Artwork and Poem by Baudelaire

The artwork below was inspired by the French poet Charles Baudelaire.

Medium used for this painting: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper.

Size: 73cm x 106cm. Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

"One O'Clock In The Morning" - SOLD

One O’Clock in the Morning

- (translation by: Ronald F. Sauer)

Alone! At last! One no longer hears but the rolling of some old carriages, belated and broken.

For a few hours we shall possess silence, if not rest.

At last! the tyranny of the human face has disappeared, and I shall no longer suffer but through myself.

At last! it is therefore permitted me to unwind in a bath of shadows. First, a double turn of the lock. It seems to me this turn of the key will augment my solitude and fortify the barricades that now separate me, in fact, from the world.

Horrible life! Horrible city!

Let us recapitulate the day: having seen many men of letters, one of whom asked me if it were possible to travel overland to Russia (he taking, no doubt, Russia for an island); having argued magnanimously with the editor of a review, who says at each of my objections: "Honesty's the policy around here." this which implies that all the other reviews are directed by con-artists; having greeted some twenty people, among whom fifteen were unknown to me; having distributed handshakes in the same proportion, and this without having taken the precaution of buying gloves; having gone up, in order to kill time during a downpour, to the apartment of a local lady-loose, who begs me to design her a love costume of velvet; having paid my respects to the director of a theater, who says in dismissing me: "You would perhaps do well to address yourself to Monsieur Z~~: he's the heaviest, drunkest, most famous of all my authors; with him perhaps you can uncork something trendy. Go see him, and then we'll see."; having boasted (why?) of many villainous things that I had never actually done, and cowardly denied other misdeeds that I accomplished with joy, brassy dereliction, criminal disrespect; having refused a good friend a small service, and given a written recommendation to a perfect idiot; ugh! is it finally over and done with?

Discontent with everybody, as well as with myself, I would like very much to redeem my soul and pride myself a little in the silence and solitude of the night. Souls of those whom I have loved, souls of

those whom I have sung, fortify me, sustain me, keep me from the lying and corrupting vapors of the world; and you, Seigneur, my God! accord me the grace of producing some beautiful verses which prove to myself alone that I am not the last among men, that I am not inferior to those whom I despise!

Black Surf #1

This artwork was created by using only two colours, black and white synthetic paint. Not to mention giving me a vast array of wonderful grey tonal ranges.

Medium: Synthetic polymer and liquid wax on paper. Size: 73 cm x 106 cm.
Painted on Arches Aquarelle paper, 640 gsm. SOLD

“There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in”. – Leonard Cohen

“Black Surf #1” - SOLD

HOMAGE - ROVER THOMAS - #1, #2

Having lived in Canada for fifteen years, one of the first artworks I wanted to see, on my return, were the works of Aboriginal/Indigenous artists. I wanted to know what they were painting and, most importantly, what colours were being used.

Of course, first were works of the great influential artist, Albert Namatjira, then the astounding Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Gloria Petyarre, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Dorothy Napangardi, Naata Nungurrayi and many more.

But it was Rover Thomas who I was drawn to. Why?

Simply, his artwork “appeared” to lean towards modernism, a form of visual language where stories of ‘country’, present and past, are a counterpoint to his direct observation of the landscape and identifiable locations.

The deceptively simple yet powerful imagery of his paintings unequivocally stamps his work as a form of sophisticated, modernist abstraction of universal appeal. SOURCE

Below, respectfully, honoring his comparatively brief but intense creative life is my homage to this fine artist.

HOMAGE ROVER THOMAS - #1

HOMAGE ROVER THOMAS - #2

When I read about his painting titled “Bedford Downs Massacre”, the work above is my interpretation of this despicable period in our Australian history. The painting by Rover Thomas (see work below of his painting) depicted the site of a massacre that happened around the time Rover Thomas was born. White settlers perpetrated several massacres in the East Kimberley region. This period is called the ‘killing times’ by local Aboriginal communities. Throughout his career Thomas depicted several massacre sites in his artwork.

ROVER THOMAS’ ACCOUNT OF THE MASSACRE

During 1924, the manager of Bedford Downs distributed strychnine-laced rations to the workers on the station. As they were dying they were shot. Wood collected earlier was used to cremate the dead and it is understood that only one man escaped. The station manager on Bedford Downs Station instructed some of his Aboriginal workers to gather loads of firewood using a dray. This wood was then distributed in piles throughout the ration camp. The manager also gave out provisions of beef, bread and ham laced with strychnine. Managers from adjacent stations also congregated there and helped to shoot and kill the victims, who were incapacitated and suffering from excruciating pain. Later they used the piles of firewood which the workers had collected earlier to cremate them. Only one man escaped by fleeing to a high hill where horseman cannot follow. Source

When the “Bedford Downs Massacre” painting was displayed at Venice, the exhibition catalogue referred to it only as Bedford Downs, leaving out the violent historical reference. Many felt that this significantly altered the cultural importance of the works, and in doing so silenced the retelling of a disturbing part of Australia’s history

Rover Thomas’ work has been widely exhibited and collected and he is recognised as one of the most significant Aboriginal artists of the late 20th century. Thomas sadly died in 1998 aged around 72.

Rover Thomas, Bedford Downs Massacre, 1985 - earth pigments and natural binders on canvas 95.7 x 179.7 x 4.2cm.

Before I go any further I ask that readers should be aware that this post contains references to members of the Indigenous community who have passed away.

Photography Source: ROVER (Julama) THOMAS 1986 Martin van der Wal

I loved when Rover spotted a Mark Rothko masterpiece he asked, “Who’s that bugger? He paints like me!”

Lisadell Country by Rover THOMAS - Medium/Material ochre on composition board.

Two "VERY" Early Works

The top painting was a challenge for me to introduce more than one style and still make it work. Here I used caricature, hard edge, stylized Egyptian, graphite drawing and loosely applied realism. Also the difficulty was the limitation I had which was the actual size of the painting (16” x 20” / 40.64 x 50.8 cm). This painting is titled, “Throughout The Ages”.

The bottom painting is a homage to Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. After reading both manifestos by these two artists it wasn’t until I completed this work that I fully understood what their goals were in attaining and growing naturally into their chosen artistic endeavors.

Both Kandinsky and Klee are considered to be the “founding fathers” of “classical modernism” Bauhaus Movement and their artists’ friendship to be one of the most fascinating of the 20th century.

“Homage to Kandinsky and Klee”

Below is one of my favorite quotes by Kandinsky as I can relate to it regarding my Symbolism paintings and the jazz series.

“Color is the keyboard. The eye is the hammer. The soul is the piano, with its many strings. The artist is the hand that purposefully sets the soul vibrating by means of this or that key.” - Wassily Kandinsky, On the Spiritual in Art, 1912