A truly enjoyable FAST AND LOOSE workshop this weekend with an enthusiastic and very dedicated group of artists at Eramboo Artists Environment in Terry Hills, Sydney. @debbiemackinnon and I helped our artists to break old habits and loosen up both in drawing and painting. It is never easy but swipe to see just a small selection of the incredible work produced on day 1.
#artworkshops #fastandloose #pushingyourself #outofcomfortzone #newapproach #observation #looseningup #artgroup #realtalent #artteaching #artcoaching #funweekend #findingnewways #erambooartistenvironment #mikestaniford
Long day’s journey.
#workinprogress #landscape #australianlight #lightandspace #australianlandscape #contemporarypainting #goldenhour #lightmagic #mikestaniford
Ross River Homestead at night. One road in and the same road out. 95 kms east of Alice Springs, nothing really prepares you for your first visit to the Outback, the light, colour, shapes and forms and the underlying beauty...especially at night. When the Milky Way stretches like a belt around the Earth, casting an ethereal glow across the hills and land.
#outbackaustralia #northernterritory #landscapepainting #nightsky #nightime #abstraction #milkyway #starsatnight #abstractpainting #colours #atnight #rossriverhomestead #contemporyart #interpretation #adventures #artistslife #pleinair #memorable #experiences #mikestaniford
Detail from a plein air painting on the Pambula River. Acrylic on paper.
#trees #treeoflife #treelovers #fieldstudy #pleinair #coastline #landscapepainting #landscapeart #mikestaniford
That moment after Dawn has broken. Acrylic and collage on board. 40 x 40cms.
#dawn #daybreak #palelight #startoftheday #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #abstraction #harbourview #treeoflife #mikestaniford
Studio wall which changes every week. A mixture of old stuff from the archive that takes my fancy alongside a few from this week’s work in progress. Some over complex and figurative, others very simple and more abstract. Interesting how you see new ideas in old work. Bottom left is a working rough for a much larger painting. The colour chalk pastel at the top is from West Penwith, deep into Cornwall. I tend not to draw the Harbour Bridge but the angles in the foreground of the sketch in the middle, from Lavender Bay really caught my eye along with the man and his dog.
#studiowall #studiolife #artiststudio #sketches #drawings #ideas #archives #recentwork #landscapes #aselection #mixedbag #draw #drawings #draweachday #mikestaniford
Just a few more steps. When the intensity of the light from the ocean bursts through the trees.
#abstractpainting #light #intensity #oceanview #oceancalling #workonpaper #treecanopy #intheshade #acrylic #fivesenses #tastetheisland #heartheroar #mikestaniford
BENEATH THE SOUTHERN SKY was originally ‘finished’ last year but every time I glanced over my shoulder it was calling for some more work. Now it is done. Inspired by my love of landscape that meets the coast, the magic of stars at night and trips to Lord Howe Island, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands, I can dream of all those wonderful hideaways again.
#southernsky #tropicalislands #nightsky #shadowplay #starsatnight #nightimeshadows #islandlife #traveltheworld #pacificislands #escapetheordinary #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #australianlandscapeartist #contemporarypainting #contemporaryart #mikestaniford
Less is more. Too easy to over work a sketch and kill the spontaneity. The white paper plays an important role in keeping it fresh as well as throwing emphasis back on to the brush marks. It’s Little Beach on the NSW Central Coast but boy it reminds me of Devon.
#littlebeach #centralcoast #pleinair #acrylic #sketchbook #whitespace #keepingitsimple #fieldstudies #mikestaniford
Rock pools Little Beach and some quick field studies. Stunning weather, just a few fishermen and the joy of sitting and observing this beautiful coastline.
#sketchbook #pleinair #rockpools #coastline #acrylicpainting #fastandloose #mikestaniford
Pathway into daybreak. Work in progress until I get back up to this vantage point tomorrow. What a time of year to watch the light over the Central Coast.
#daybreak #dawn #morninglight #acryliconboard #landscapepainting #glimpse #oceanview #intothelight #newday #landscapeart #australianlandscape #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #artcollectors #mikestaniford
New Day Rising. Just before the light fades from grey and my way ahead becomes clear, I take the narrow track and climb towards the headland. I can only just taste the sea but I know it’s there, just over the purple ridgeline where dawn has once again laid its claim and I will see something new.
#bushwalk #wagstaffe #totheocean #ridgeline #endofday #journey #daybreak #pinklight #firstlight #contemporaryart #landscapepainter #today #thismoment #mikestaniford
Towards Balmain. The Barangaroo foreshore of Sydney Harbour late afternoon as the early evening closes in.
#softlight #lateafternoon #light #acrosstheharbour #harbourside #harbourcity #sydneyHarbour #barangaroo #mycity #contemporarylandscape #artists #artgalleries #artbuyers #artcollectors #landscapepainting #landscapeart #contemporaryart #mikestaniford
Down by the water’s edge. Trees continue to amaze me, their shapes, postures, colours, sounds, even their personalities. But I like to be spontaneous, to catch their shape with broad intuitive marks. Swipe for some variations on the theme. Number 3 reduces the whole idea down to three elements with collage providing the illusion of water.
#trees #studies #variations #onatheme #watersedge #charcoaldrawing #collage #landscapes #landscapedrawing #mikestaniford
From where I’m sitting. Tallow Beach and beyond. I’ve dropped charcoal in favourite of acrylic markers today, jet blacks, bold shapes and abstracting just parts of what sits in front of me. Love the bold happy accidents that occur with these chunky unforgiving markers...you can run but you can’t hide.
#pleinair #pleinairartist #topoftheworld #rockyheadland #headlands #tallowbeach #acryliconpaper #poscapens #abstraction #workfast #mikestaniford
Through to the water beyond. Both of these might become paintings in the weeks to come. The light changing as the sun goes down, pretty quickly spilling shadows across the forest. I’ve left out so much detail in both drawings because there’s a need for some breathing space, a light uninterrupted foreground or a sense of calm in the water behind. I do value the authenticity of being in the landscape complete with it’s noises, smells, wind and wildlife. It all comes rushing back when I’m in the studio making an entirely different set of decisions around colour, structure and degrees of abstraction versus reality.
#pleinair #outdoors #sketching #fieldstudies #draw #drawing #drawingoftheday #bushland #forest #tracks #glimpses #reality #contemporarydrawing #art #artoftheday #mikestaniford
Information gathering through the beautiful tracks above Wagstaff overlooking Hardy’s Bay. The bush is way too complicated to gather into one drawing or painting so I tend to look for the angles, the way the light falls and the shapes and forms that create an interest juxtaposition.
#bushland #tracks #trails #charcoaldrawing #charcoal #blackandwhite #tonal #simplification #anstraction #informationgathering #fieldstudies #amongstnature #trees #glimpses #lamdscape #landscapeart #landscapelover #mikestaniford
Sail away with me. One for my solo show opening at the end of August. Acrylic on board 120 x 120cms. #tothesea #reflectedlight #silverlake #reflections #distantshore #mirror #surface #sailaway #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #artworld #artgalleries #contemporarylandscape #escape #freespirit #landscapepainter #landscapeartist #mikestaniford
Breathe in that ocean air. On any one of Sydney’s seventy beaches it feels like water is the driving force of all nature. I didn’t want to over work this one but to keep to brush marks moving and to be guided by the needs of the picture.
#beaches #beachlife #beachdays #water #waterside #ocean #oceanside #citybythesea #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #oceanpark #contemporaryaustralianart #contemporatyartist #memories #summergone #artoftheday #nature #drivingforce #artshow #upcoming #mikestaniford
There’s a point at the start of every painting, when I’m trying to record the fundamental structure of a place, that thrills me the most. It’s almost like attempting to adopt the pace of nature, before you reach that tipping point, when the painting takes over and you have to apply the brakes. First marks are always the real treat for me. Where memory, observation and imagination compete to inform the vocabulary of the work. Work in progress, acrylic on board, 60 x 60cms.
#firstmarks #fastandloose #vocabulary #impressionism #landscapepainting #progression #composition #distance #observation #memory #topography #coastline #glimpse #extraction #ocean #landscapepainting #mikestaniford
A fabulous FAST and LOOSE workshop weekend with twelve hard working, talented and very dedicated participants. Observing the landscape and working fast, visually editing out what you don’t need and capturing the subject is never easy but take a look at some of the great results achieved over the course of the two days. Many thanks and congratulations to such a dedicated group who filled me with enthusiasm.
#artworkshop #fastandloose #nature #erambooartistenvironment #eramboo #greattalent #experimenting #supportivefriends #workingtogether #newtechniques #artistsupportartists #artists #mikestaniford
FAST AND LOOSE with @debbiemackinnon and @mikestaniford
Our first workshop starts tomorrow. Really looking forward to welcoming our twelve participants and helping them push the drawing and painting process to make powerful interpretations from the landscape. Should be a fun and informative weekend.
#artworkshops #fastandloose #exploringlandscape #spontaneousdrawing #personalexpression #experimental #sharedlearnings #mikestaniford
“Between two trees is a doorway to another world.”
John Muir
A detail from my next large landscape. Coming soon.
#loveoftrees #trees #anotherworld #nature #forests #plantatree #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #australianartist #australianart #lakeside #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #contemporarylandscape #leaves #foliage #treecanopy #artoftheday #artgalleries #artcollectors #artinthehome ##mikestaniford
“If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees.”
Hal Borland
#trees #nature #coastline #patience #companyoftrees #thelandscape #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #australianlandscape #tretrunks #light #mikestaniford
Hello old friend.
“Trees are as close to immortality as the rest of us ever come.”
Karen Joy Fowler
#trees #athousandtrees #oldfriend #meaningoflife #deeproots #miraclesoflife #landscapepainting #australianlandscape #plantatree #australianartist #artcollectors #artgalleries #artbuyers #acryliconboard #40x50cm #mikestaniford
A fabulous Saturday, gallery hopping and we couldn’t resist this piece, Walking Lost by @kyle.a.murrell now showing @defiancegallery A great exhibition alongside wonderful work by @willeminavillari the two artists complementing each other perfectly.
#artgalleries #artcollectors #emergingtalent #artoftheday #mustsee #modernart #abstractart #mikestaniford
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
