Hardy’s Bay from Hawkehead Drive, with Ettalong across the water.

#landscapeartist #landscapepainting #killcare #nswcentralcoast #trees #fortheloveoftrees #treesofinstagram #lightonwater #naturestrails #distantheadland #bayarea #reflections #mikestaniford ...

Cape Cornwall, from my time there last year.
Gouache on paper and soon to be available for purchase as part of the @newlynartschool fundraiser.

#cornwall #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #gouachepainting #vanishingpoints #gouacheartwork #unfinished #knowingwhentostop #spontaneity #sketchbooks #pleinair #pleinairpainting #contours #angularlandscapes #geometry #perspectives #turningfields #contempoarylandscape #mikestaniford ...

Earthmarks 2025

I invite the viewer to look beyond the immediate and into the vast, sweeping horizons that stretch out to the edges of perception.

#unseenlandscapes #unseenworld #landscapeartist #landscapepainter #vanishingpoints #landscapegeometry #tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

One of those moments when you stop, take a deep breath and take it all in. A brief interlude that doesn’t last for long.

The last light playing through the foliage as the distant mountains of Queensland’s Scenic Rim fade into lilac. See previous posts for my under painting and my study made on location.

Hidden Creek Cabins
Acrylic on canvas
104 x 104cms

#fadinglight #daysend #lastlight #lightthroughtrees #fortheloveoftrees #scenicrim #queenslandlife #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #contemporaryartwork #contemporary_art #contemporaryartcollectors #mikestaniford ...

Thrilled to see my Cornish painting, The Moors At Pendeen is part of the 2025 FUNDRAISER for @newlynartschool

I painted it last year during a visit to the Newlyn art school. The rain filled tracks and glorious pink heather combined to make a simple yet powerful composition.

So many great artists and paintings available for every art lover. Highly recommend you to check out the collection via the link in my bio but be quick, they are selling fast.

If you happen to be in Cornwall you can see the work in person at Tremenheere Gallery, open 1-12 October.

#newlynartschool #2025fundraiser #artfundraising #originalartworks #supportingart #onlinecourses #drawingandpainting #mikestaniford ...

Reflections in the lagoon. From my last visit to Lord Howe Island with Mount Gower and Mount Lidgebird in distance.

Knowing where and when to start a drawing always throws up a moment of uncertainty, self doubt? What to leave in, what to leave out. I tend to follow a simple rule…just dive in! Throw yourself into it and nine times out of ten, it will sort itself out!

I’m in sunny Brisbane and heading out to the scenic rim later, where along with fellow crusader @debbiemackinnon I will running an art workshop for the next five days. Drawing will feature strongly and I’m looking forward to meeting the group and exchanging thoughts and ideas and encouraging their individual development. Very excited!!

#artworkshop #artretreat #drawing #queensland #scenicrim #worksonpaper #mixedmedia #mikestaniford ...

The Edge Of Distance
Acrylic on board
35 x 50cms

Whenever I start a painting, with the landscape stretching ahead of me, the most interesting thing is without doubt, the terrain itself.

The surfaces of my sketchbook, canvas or board are devoid of any colour or commitment. But as I work my way into the subject, things start to shift, so that the painting takes over and a ‘picture’ starts to emerge, holding my focus more than the actual landscape.

Part of a new body of work following my successful show, Unseen Landscapes, @workingdog.gallery back in April/May.

DM me if you would like more details.

#rhythms #contours #angularlandscapes #geometry #perspectives #horizons #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #vanishingpoints #turningfields #contempoarylandscape #mikestaniford ...

It seems only logical that my own personal way into abstraction comes from ‘interpreting’ the landscape into a ‘formalized geometry.’

The performance of light, mood and spatial recognition are the key principles of the approach I want to take. Resemblance to place is of little consequence and left entirely to the viewer’s discretion.

Rhythms Of Distance
Acrylic on board
35 x 45cms

#rhythms #contours #angularlandscapes #geometry #perspectives #horizons #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #vanishingpoints #turningfields #contempoarylandscape #mikestaniford ...

The diagonals of fields under an intensely stormy sky. From my last visit to Hope Valley, Derbyshire in the UK’s Peak District.

Acrylic on board

DM me for details.

#landscapeartist #landscapepainter #vanishingpoints #landscapegeometry #countrystyle #derbyshire #peakdistrict #farmland #wideopenspaces #tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #clouds☁️ #cloudformations #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

Silence is a river.

Acrylic on board
63 x 63cms

#australianlandscape #bushland #lightontrees #arborealists #trees #ringaroomariver #tasmanian #wilderness #contemporarylandscape #landscapepainting #momentsintime #landscapepainter #coastallandscape #waterways #lakesandrivers #australianartist #coastalliving #mikestaniford ...

There are landscapes where tracks, broken fences and the marks of human intervention play an important part in forming an identity of place.

I am still struck by that sweep of unbroken expanse, vastness that is both grounding and infinite.

Forging A New Path (detail)
Acrylic on paper

#unseenlandscapes #unseenworld #soloshow #workingdoggallery #landscapeartist #landscapepainter #vanishingpoints #landscapegeometry #tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.
Margaret Atwood

And like a journey across the land, these rain filled tracks emphasize the mystery of water.

I’m beginning to use monoprints more often these days, the effect adding dramatically to the end result. See how the underlying print provides a perfect watery background to my over painting.

From my solo show, Unseen Landscapes. Contact me for further details.

The Language Of Rain
Acrylic over monoprint on paper
62 x 79cms framed

#unseenlandscapes #unseenworld #soloshow #workingdoggallery #landscapeartist #landscapepainter #vanishingpoints #landscapegeometry #tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

Windswept trees on the north Cornish coast near Pendeen. Painted during my time teaching @newlynartschool last year.

I love how trees submit to their environment and yet survive and thrive no matter what nature throws at them.

Acrylic on paper

#coastal #coastallandscape #trees #fortheloveoftrees #treestreestrees #surviving #nature #windswept #cornwall #cornishcoast #landscapepainting #twoartistsonejourney #pleinairpainting #inthestudio ##newlynartschool #mixedmedia #mikestaniford ...

The best journey takes you home.

Have you ever seen anything in your life
more wonderful than the way the sun,
every evening, relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon and into the
clouds or the rumpled sea and is gone…

Mary Oliver

Acrylic on paper
54 x 54cms

#returninghome #daysend #landscapeartist #landscapepainter #journeys #landscapegeometry #countrystyle #woodland #standoftrees #gloaming #australianperspectives #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

Resemblance to place is of little consequence and left entirely to the viewer’s discretion. Plein air sketches of trees and coastal walks in Devon and the NSW coast at Pambula bear witness to my fascination of a far headland, partially obscured.

The performance of light, mood and spatial recognition are most important to me.

Acrylic on board
63 x 63cms

#lightsandshadows #lightthroughthetrees #landscapeartist #landscapepainting #australianperspectives #farheadland #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

The sweep of an unbroken expanse, a vastness that is both grounding and infinite. Landscapes where tracks, broken fences and the marks of human intervention play an important part in forming an identity of place.

Executed in different degrees of charcoal and graphite on Arches 300gsm paper.

Navigating By Light
72 x 71cms Framed

From my recent show, Unseen Landscapes. Head to my website to see more of this body of work. www.mikestaniford.com

#tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #vastness #unseenlandscapes #wilderness #wideopenspaces #farreaching #expanse #vanishingpoints #australianperspectives #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

The largest canyon in the world, Capertee Valley in New South Wales, 135 kms north west of Sydney and the original home of the Wiradjuri people.

Acrylic on board
83 x 83cms

#landscapeartist #landscapepainter #vanishingpoints #landscapegeometry #countrystyle #farmland #wideopenspaces #tracks #humanintervention #spaceandform #diagonals #fieldpatterns #australianperspectives #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #abstraction #mikestaniford ...

Trees are like friends and just like the branches of a tree, they can reach out and touch our lives in so many ways. They cheer us up, put a smile on our face and bring light to even the gloomiest of days. Go on, step outside and give one a hug!
It’s National Tree Day!

#nationaltreeday #trees #treesofinstagram #landscapersofinstagram #landscapepainting #mikestaniford ...