Very pleased that SHADOWS HOLD THEIR BREATH has been selected for the Salon des Refusés of the inaugural Lethbridge Landscape Prize. Lots of wonderful works available online at www.lethbridge gallery.com
#artprizes #lethbridgelandscapeprize #contemporarylandscapepainting #lethbridgegallery #landscapepainting #australianartist #australianlandscape #mikestaniford
When enough is enough. At the edge of the lake. 120 x 120cms, acrylic on board.
#landscapepainting #landscapeartist #australianlandscapeartist #outbackaustralia #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #contemporaryartist #reductivepainting #reductiveabstraction #composition #simplify #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #artgalleries #artcollectors #pinkaesthetic #artstudio #kunst #artecontemporaneo #mikestaniford
Spent the whole day arguing with this one and still it refuses to take charge. Tomorrow is another day.
#largework #workinprogress #landscape #gettingthere #challenging #landscapepainting #waterway #mikestaniford
Keeping it very loose. Across Hawkehead towards the ocean. Limited colour palette and aiming to keep the paint moving. Acrylic on paper.
#landscape #landscapepainting #abstraction #bushland #interpretation #limitedcolours #peninsula #fastandloose #mikestaniford
Looking at ways to describe Hawkehead peninsula. I spent the afternoon looking at the rhythmic rhyming of curves in the landscape. Observing the disposition of abstract shapes across the planes. Mostly achieved with acrylic marker before finishing with a quick gouache painting.
#landscapes #variations #quicksketches #scrylicmarkets #abstraction #abstractpainting #impressions #impressionistart #rhythmic #landscapeartist #australianlandscape #landscapepainting #contemporaryartist #fastandloose #mikestaniford
As Sophocles once said, “ You don’t know what kind of day you have until evening.” From the deck of a cabin towards Depot Beach. That glow on the water, a sense of impermanence, knowing that as minutes pass, the light will change and the colours will ultimately extinguish.
#trees #treestreestrees #depotbeach #endofday #changinglight #reflectedlight #reflections #pinks #pinkskies #acrylicpainting #landscape #minimalist #reductive #impressionistart #fleetingmoments #eveningsky #mikestaniford
A few shots of the new studio space and work in progress. Still at the same address but I’ve gone up in the world...literally, to the studio above with lots of extra space! It won’t look this tidy for much longer. I can’t work in total chaos but it’s great to flit from one work to the next and keep referring back to previous works. DM me if you want to come by and take a look.
#newstudio #moreroom #behindthescenes #paintings #workinprogress #studiolife #space #spacetopaint #art #studiosworldwide #artistsatwork #artiststudio #mikestaniford
Sometimes you just need to sit and think. Last days in my studio before I move upstairs to a bigger space. I’ll give you a look next week.
#studiolife #thinkingtime #whatsworking #bodyofwork #myplace #studiopainting #artistsstudios #workinprogress #mikestaniford
Keep it fast and loose and just remember what you saw...light, shape, composition. Memory usually throws it all back at you and of course dream a little while you’re at it. It’s your picture after all.
#fastandloose #charcoaldrawing #workingsketch #landscape #resolvingcomposition #play #draw #drawings #drawingoftheday #structure #form #memory #lightanddark #mikestaniford
Evening light Depot Beach and memories of our road trip to the south coast. Just a peek through the trees created an interesting sense of abstraction to the incredible reflections of the last hour of the day. Subject not scene. 40 x 40cms. Acrylic on board.
#endofday #pinks #pinksunset #treescape #abstraction #subjectlight #reductive #lovethelight #glow #radiance #fleetingmoment #impermanence #artistsoninstagram #contemporaryartist #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #australianartist #artoftheday #depotbeach #mikestaniford
Fast and loose. This is Cowan Water from the top of the Hawkehead peninsula. A waterway stretching from the ocean, inland through the hills and national parks. After a series of sketches paring down the detail and complexity, one very chunky stick of dense black charcoal did the trick. For me this drawing needs no more and will form the basis of my next large painting.
#simplify #charcoaldrawing #charcoalart #pleinair #pleinairartist #fieldstudy #cowanwater #waterway #inlets #riversystem #observation #pareddown #draw #drawing #a3 #mikestaniford
Caution! Artist at work.
#pleinair #fieldstudies #outdoors #middaysun #landscapeart #thegreatoutdoors #mikestaniford
The rain has gone and the Hawkehead peninsula never felt so good. Spotting some good pleinair locations for tomorrow.
#fridayafternoon #weekendvibes #farandwide #vista #thegreatoutdoors #southbysouthwest #hawkehead #killcare #mikestaniford
The drama and scale of this incredible land. Acrylic on board, 130 x 120cms. Swipe for details and my original drawing which is 60 x 60cms.
#ravine #mountainscape #hillsandvalleys #landscapepainting #australianlandscape #travels #journeys #drawing #mylandscape #australianlandscape #dramatic #thisland #australianartist #contemporaryart #artbuyers #artgalleries #australianart #landscapelovers #monumental #scale #mikestaniford
Eyes right. You know that feeling when you’re heading home and the bush track is disappearing into darkness but you can’t take your eyes off the ocean. This is the time to practice the rule of five things...that you can see, hear, smell, feel and taste. If you’re not connected to what’s around you at that point, you never will be.
#fivethings #thesenses #immerseyourself #inthelandscape #coastalwalks #goinghome #atheendoftheday #landscapepainting #australianlandscapeartist #australianlandscape #contemporaryaustralianart #contemporarypainting #escape #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #acryliconboard #mikestaniford
Solitary tree. (Detail from yesterday’s full painting).
#trees #lifesource #treeoflife #treesofinstagram #treelovers #inthelandscape #allaroundus #contemporaryartist #mikestaniford
Been dancing round the studio for three days with this one and we’ll probably tango again tomorrow. Acrylic on board. 120 x 120cms. Swipe for details and my original ink drawing.
#tango #danceroutine #landscapepainting #workinprogress #distanthorizon #contemporarylandscape #mikestaniford
Left handed people. Or rather people drawn with my left hand. Quick observations as they pass through an exhibition, each scribbled in a matter of seconds with all the flaws and discrepancies my untrained hand describes. Don’t fight the frustration of it, just let it happen.
#wobblylines #peoplewatching #drawingpeople #lefthand #inkdrawings #observations #characters #onthemove #quickstudies #draw #drawing #drawingoftheday #expressions #poses #sketchbook #sketching #observationaldrawing #watching #handeyecoordination #mikestaniford
I can hear the ocean’s roar. I remember as a kid Travelling to the beach, desperate to get the sand and the sea, endless hours sat in a car with Cornwall’s high hedgerows either side obscuring any view of the ocean. And then there would be a glimpse, through a gate or a break in the hedgerow and I would be filled with expectation, wind down the window and smell the Atlantic Ocean. And I guess that feeling still stays with me. FINALLY ARRIVED, acrylic on board, 26 x 33cms.
#atthebeach #beachlife #mybeach #sandytracks #oceanview #oceanlover #breathein #acrylicpainting #contemporaryart #australianart #australianpainting #mikestaniford
Got to love the confidence and freedom in the mark making here . My nine year old granddaughter’s portrait of me on iPad! #ipaddrawing #earlyconfidence #portrait #likeness #character #mikestaniford
As Sydney is deluged in rain I’m thinking about Depot Beach, five hours south on the Sapphire Coast and swimming in that ocean just a few weeks ago. This new work is one of a series, initially painted from the deck of our cabin. I was fascinated by the reflected light and extraordinary colour of the water, made all the more tempting by the abstract forms of the bushland in front of it. In a wet and windy day in the big city, it really lifts my spirits.
40 x 40cms, acrylic on board.
#summerdays #memories #sapphirecoast #depotbeach #oceanview #oceanlife #view #throughthetrees #sapphirecoastnsw #escapism #landscapepainting #landscapesrtist #australiancoast #ausraliancoastalstyle #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstractpainting #abstraction #mikestaniford
What did lockdown mean to me and how did I find my way through such a challenging time. Project 2060, a North Sydney Council initiative asks artists to respond to the question of how they responded to isolation. You can see my piece, FROM EVERY COASTAL HEADLAND LET FREEDOM SING at the coal loader tunnel in Sydney’s Waverton. Swipe for details and the thinking behind my work.
#project2060 #northsydneycouncil #coalloader #artexhibition #interpretation #myresponse #coastal #landscape #landscapeartist #freedom #escape #solitude #timeoflockdown #headland #ocean #mikestaniford
In the shallow waters the light filters through the trees and offers up the magic of movement and reflection. Two of my works from the group show, WATERWORKS @thestables.contemporary gallery in Oxford Falls. Click the link in my bio for a look at the catalogue.
#waterworks #artexhibition #groupshow #reflections #lightonwater #impermanence #tidal #settingsun #paintedsurface #groupshow #oxfordfalls #contemporaryart #landscapeartist #mikestaniford
Just finished hanging SAFE HARBOUR along with a collection of my paintings in the Waterworks exhibition, a group show opening on Friday @thestables.contemporary in Oxford Falls. Why not come along for drinks? I’ll post a catalogue of my work tomorrow and please do contact me direct if there’s something that catches your eye.
“My paintings in the Waterworks exhibition are a response to the ever changing idea of reflection and seek to capture the impermanence of light on water. Those fleeting moments where water acts as a mirror, enticing the senses and momentarily describing a time and location; the interplay of land with tide as the sea seeks to reclaim its place, the thrown back drama of a setting sun, gone within a matter of moments, water acting as a painted surface. The trick is to connect with what I see before it disappears.”
#artexhibitions #groupshow @debbiemackinnon @vanessaashcroft #oxfordfalls #waterworks #lightonwater #safeharbour #impressionism #artopening #artcollectors #artbuyers #reflections #impermanence #mikestaniford
Leave the car park, slip off your shoes and feel the cool shadowed sand beneath your feet and look what’s waiting for you. Killcare Beach.
#summerdays #slippingaway #solitude #sandbetweenmytoes #killcarebeach #noworries #lateafternoon #walktothebeach #oceanview #oceanlife #escapism #freedom #landscape #landscapepainting #australianlandscape #mikestaniford
Ocean at the end of the path. We may be in autumn but the sea still beckons. The early evening shadows crossing the sandy track really caught my eye, the diagonals forming abstract marks within the rectangle of the paper.
#sandbetweenmytoes #tracks #tothebeach #beachlife #mybeach #escapethecity #escapism #coastalliving #charcoaldrawing #seaair #charcoalsketch #fieldstudy #landscapepainting #observation #draw #drawing #draweveryday #draweverywhere #mikestaniford
Thrilled that BLUE GREEN LANDSCAPE is off to a new home. 🔴 I had such a good time painting this one, starting with dozens of sketches and working studies made up on the Hawkehead peninsula above the ocean, before bringing it back in to the studio. From the very beginning it was a great dance partner. Huge thanks to the collector and of course the fantastic team @moochinside gallery.
#landscape #killcareheights #killcare #hawkeheadpeninsula #nswcentralcoast #distance #contemporarylandscape #contemporaryart #australianlandscape #australianlandscapeartist #artbuyers #artcollectors #artgalleries #contemporaryliving #insideout #artinthhome #mikestaniford
Those moments when late afternoon becomes early evening and the sun has dropped behind the headland. The rock pools become the ocean and all but disappear and the water turns from aqua teal to indigo. Who doesn’t love a deserted beach at this time of day. Just you and the ocean. Part of you knows it’s time to go home but part of you is saying stay, for just a little longer and...Inhale.
#memories #endofday #peaceful #inhale #oceanlife #incomingtide #everythingchanges #shiftingsands #oceanlover #workonpaper #gouachepainting #coastalliving #coastallandscape #mikestaniford #dreamingoftravel #
Can you feel the sand between your toes? One of my top spots this year on the NSW Australian coast. Crystal clear water, pure white sand and the shade of the trees. I will be going back.
#beachlife #summergone #memories #clearwaters #australiancoast #abeachsomewhere #crystalwaters #acryliconpaper #aquietcorner #australianlandscapepainter #pleinairpainter #mikestaniford
As summer starts to fade. Memories of my recent toad trip south towards Eden and a few days at Depot Beach on the Sapphire Coast. Though I work in acrylic mostly, gouache is a great medium when you are on the move and plein air painting. I’ve always loved the way the paint dances across the surface of good quality smooth paper, in this case Arches, 300gsm. How enticing was that beach? To wake up every morning for that blitz of sapphire and a whole new world.
#beachlife #summervibes #sapphirecoast #pathways #escapetothecountry #escapethecity #escapism #gouachepainting #contemporarylandscape #shadows #memories #oceanlife #oceanlovers #pleinair #pleinairpainting #thegreatoutdoors #mikestaniford
