🔴 Very pleased that Moonlight, Depot Beach is off to a new home. One of a series painted pleinair during a fabulous visit to the Sapphire Coast back in the late summer. It brings back great memories of warm days and evenings and reflections on the ocean.
#moonlight #oceanlife #sapphirecoast #eveninglight #artbuyers #artcollectors #treesoflife #depotbeach #mikestaniford
Another way of looking at light is by looking at what light is shining on. Halfway up the drive to the peninsula, where the tarmac gives way to unforgiving earth and rock, and you ask yourself once again why you didn’t get a 4WD, the bay opens up to the west and every time you have to stop and recognize the vantage point. To drink in the spatial experience of the landscape and gaze at the illumination.
#light #lightandspace #lightonwater #illumination #vantagepoint #landscape #landscapepainting #bayarea #shining #spatial #spatialexperience #australianlandscapeartist #contemporarylandscape #contemporaryart #hues #colourpalette #artcollectors #picturemaking #mikestaniford
Good Companions.
#treesoflife #goodcompanions #familyoftrees #twoofakind #trees #individual #personalities #nature #naturalworld #landscapepainting #australianlandscape #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #artoftheday #artinthehome #interiordesign #vogueliving #designlovers #modernart #fineart #workonpaper #abstraction #abstractartist #mikestaniford
Tallow Beach. Rock clusters at the southern end. Nature has to be the best design manual. The expansiveness of natural forms when you really look and study become abstract entities in their own right.
#derwent #inktensepencils #abstraction #nature #natural #topography #rockformations #abstractshapes #abstractart #juxtaposition #worksonpaper #abstractimpression #interpretation #pleinair #mikestaniford
I prefer autumn and winter in Sydney to the relentless heat of summer. The colours change, darkness comes early and the city looks to hibernate, waiting for time to pass, till the old friend of summer turns up once again. And that’s a completely different story.
#winterishere #mapletrees #harbourcity #adifferentstory #treesoflife #signallingchange #seasonschange #hibernate #changes #harmony #perseverance ##softlight #fallingleaves #landscapepainting #mypaintings #fineart #artist #interiordesign #modernart #contemporaryart #contemporarypainting #mikestaniford
A year ago as the first wave of lockdown took hold, I turned my attention to drawing and in particular, still life. The things that were right in front of me, under my nose all the time. Whilst landscape remains my first love, I’m going to start a second avenue of work and explore still life...composition and subject are what interest me, the dynamic that angles can inflict into an otherwise mundane scene. All of these are A3 on 200gsm paper using a combination of charcoal, conte, brush pen and ink.
#stillife #stillifedrawing #composition #tabletop #flowers #artbooks #spaghettichair #blackandwhite #mixedmedia #contemporaryart #flowerarrangements #humaninterest #subject #styleoftheday #materialpleasure #madeobjects #inthehome #visuallanguage #drawing #charcoaldrawing #mikestaniford
Rushcutters Bay. Late afternoon on the edge of Sydney Harbour. How lucky we are to have access to parks and public spaces that bring us to the water’s edge. I’m in my 27th year in this beautiful city and I still marvel at its magic.
#harbourcity #sydneyharbour #watersedge #parkland #treesoflife #reflections #reflectedlight #landscape #australianlandscape #artoftheday #artcollectors #artbuyers #mikestaniford
“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.”
J.B. Priestly
#morninglight #newday #freshstart #onemoretry #magic #morningmagic #sicily🇮🇹 #mediterraneanlife #treesoflife #mikestaniford
It’s a long walk down to Tallow Beach but we’ll worth it if you like deserted ocean beaches and fathoming the joy of being in nature.
#headland #abovethebeach #tallowbeach #lovenature💚 #inthewild #nature #outdoorlife #artoftheday #artistsoninstagram #artcollectors #artbuyers #artgalleries #landscapepainting #australianlandscapepainting #fivesenses #contemporaryartists #mikestaniford
McMaster’s Beach and it’s sea pool, cliffs and distinctive Norfolk Pines. From the sketchbook and a combination of brush pen, Uni-ball fine pen and Sharpie marker. My three favourites. I love working different drawing implements to apply contrast and texture to the elements of nature. What’s your favorite scribe?
#draw #drawing #drawingoftheday #pleinairdrawing #blackandwhitedrawing #sketchbook #sketchbookdrawing #landscape #mcmastersbeach #centralcoastnsw #mikestaniford
I’m drawn by the early evening light that late Autumn in this part of Australia brings. I’m also focused on the the importance of reduction and the careful placement of elements. The solitary tree has grabbed my attention of late...a metaphor for what I wonder? An A3 work on paper in acrylic. Looking forward to seeing this one framed.
#lonetrees #trees #treeoflife #landscape #reflections #light #life #autumn #worksonpaper #bythewater #mikestaniford
One from the archives. Balmoral Beach, watercolour and it earned me a finalist place in the 2002 Mosman Art Prize. The important component of this painting is the white sail cutting through the trees at the end of the beach. Painted plein air, it’s a very small work and one of my favorites.
#watercolour #landscape #mosmanartprize #balmoralbeach #watercolourpainting #pleinair #mikestaniford
FINALLY ARRIVED. Wintry light across the rooftops and the sea beyond. Funny how referencing a place brings back memories of another. In this case it’s Avoca Beach but could easily be Cornwall or even Cap Ferat. Acrylic on board, 40 x 40cms.
#traveldiaries #oneplace #pastjourneys #travelmemories ##placesihavebeen #solitarytree #trees #againsthesky #eveninglight #endofday #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #artoftheday #contemporarypainting #mikestaniford
In the shadows of the evening.
Acrylic on paper. 30 x 35cms.
#promontory #theharbour #shadowplay #shadows #eveningsky #contemporarylandscape #landscapeartist #contemporaryart #contemporaryartists #artcollectors #artbuyers #mikestaniford
Some quick sketches, scribbles before I start painting. Helps me to edit out what’s not needed, to formalize composition and be clear in my own mind about the dynamics of the angles and lines. All of these are only 12 x 12cms. Number 3 is the sketch for my last post. Tell me, how do you start when facing a new landscape?
#landscapepainting #precursor #warmupsketch #composition #structure #pleinair #scribbles #landscapes #observation #drawing #draw #handeyecoordination #quickstudies #mikestaniford
Beach at Maitland Bay and perfect conditions. Acrylic on paper, 30 x 30cms.
#beachlife #beachvibes #maitlandbay #trees #treeoflife #coastalliving #coastal #abstraction #contemporaryaustralianart #landscapepainting #centralcoast #pleinair #pleinairpainting #mikestaniford
Friday night and the end of a busy week. No place like home.
#athome #fridaynight #weekendvibes #familyfordinner #kickingback #mikestaniford
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE. Trees bordering the lagoon in the late afternoon. Light coming off the water and penetrating the tree canopies. I like the looseness of gouache field studies and often prefer them to the final painting.
#gouachepainting #gouache #fieldstudy #pleinairpainting #landscapepainting #trees #treesofinstagram #treepaintings #pinkskies #lagoon #coastalliving #coastal #fastandloose #australianlandscape #australianlandscapepainting #landscapepainting #landscapeartist #mikestaniford
From yesterday’s tree post but this time with gouache. I’ve always enjoyed the fluid opaqueness of gouache on paper, how it moves effort across the surface.
#treescape #trees #coastal #coastalliving #gouache #gouachepainting #gouachelandscape #landscapepainting #pleinair #pleinairpainting #fastandloose #worksonpaper #mikestaniford
A late afternoon wander along the beach at Maitland Bay and these trees caught my eye. I liked the way they break against the sky, perched up high against the rocks, two sentinels keeping watch over the ocean behind me. In the coming days I will look again at this composition before making a painting from it. The limited and arguably unusual colour palette are a result of the limited kit that I take with me but hey, they serve the purpose of giving me a tonal reference of the landscape.
#maitlandbay #coastline #treescape #headland #clifface #coastline #sketchbook #sketchbookdrawing #sketchbookart #drawing #draw #drawingoftheday #mikestaniford
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
