Stringybark Jetty Print

‘There’s the whitebox and pine on the ridges afar, Where the iron-bark, blue-gum, and peppermint are; There is many another, but dearest to me, And the king of them all was the stringy-bark tree.’ Henry Lawson The Stringybark is a very tall straight tree, and the bark is rough, fibrous and stringy, thus its name. For me it typifies the dryness and heat of the Australian bush. I started to paint this one in France a while ago, and have just recently pulled it out again to put on some finishing touches, and was surprised to find that I appear to have again unintentionally produced another bit of Australiana. Although it was painted in France, along the banks of La Sevre Niortaise, the colours remind me of the intense chromas you get in Oz because of the dry air. I’m not sure what sort the trees are, but the whole setting (if not the form) echoes the landscapes produced by the ‘city bushmen’ daubers of the Australian 1880’s. You can almost imagine a couple of old boys panning for gold along the shore. Anyone who has been following my recent posts may realise that I have lately been letting my paintings go their own way after ‘things’ start to emerge, and do not try to keep on bringing them back on to track to where they were originally intended to go. I find this is far more interesting than just painting what is there, provided, of course, the painting is not a portrait or other commission, and I and the client have an agreement about what will roughly emerge. I think it is the artist’s job to come up with a painting that is more than representing what is there, (no matter how detailed and skilfully the realism may be handled) and get some attention as an impressive painting that can stand independently on it’s own merits. After all, I’d like to think, it’s not what you paint, but how you paint it.