The unbelievable colour and contrast of our northwest was what prompted me to attempt painting in1983 while on long service leave from my day job as a Commonwealth Meat inspector… it was our first trip around Australia.  Knowing nothing about painting I decided on watercolour because I thought it would be easier to wash the brushes. My first attempts were at Lake Argyle… and needless to say it was a total disaster.

  Never having a great affinity to schooling and class rooms the thought of seeking formal training never really entered my head. Hence the absence of long lists of letters and qualifications on my resume.  

 But of course there was a necessity to acquire some knowledge, so my own training  came in the form of studying the technique’s and methods of the worlds greatest watercolourist past and present.  This freed me from the  bounds and constraint of what should or should not be done with watercolour, it allowed me to develop my own style and techniques.

   Over the 25 year I have continued to experiment with different application methods and materials… I always look for the impossible and try to think beyond where I have been before.  Watercolour is such a demanding and challenging medium, that needs a  certain type of mindset … defiance and impatience… An impatience to spend hours labouring over a work.    But it does bring it’s own rewards… it’s explosive spontaneity the crisp vibrant colours and that translucence that sets watercolours apart from other mediums. 

These are the things that I strive for at all times.

 During the first few months that I started to paint, I became concerned that I would run out of things to paint. But painting opened my eyes to the world…I now notice the smallest detail.  The sun catching a leaf as it falls from a tree, the tiniest droplets of water turned on by the morning light to become fairyland crystals… The instant that the  pod explodes with a slight puff of wind sending the seeds on their journey to start a new.                  

       I now know that I will never be without a painting in my head they are every where I look. But some things are beyond the artist… some things have a grandeur that one should not try to emulate.   

     “These are the things that you only see once you start to see!”

 What I hope to convey in my works is a need to explore and look for yourself.  Colour…does not originate from flashing neon signs and television.   Leave the shopping centres and commercial world behind every now and then… take the time to restore the energy in the soul and wonder at the beauty of the very fragile world we live in.

       In recent years I have made several trips to France, which seems to have some sort of attraction to me, having painted in Provence at several workshops I have come to the conclusion that Australia has a clarity and colour brightness that is rarely seen in the home of the impressionists. This, obviously  only comes from clear air and bright sunlight.   Provence is a place that many artist through the ages have aspired to be, but as much as I love it’s intrigue an special beautiful… for me as a landscape artist  it really is a poor second to the magnificent of the Australian outback.

JUL 1994 Viewers Choice, South West Survey,  Bunbury Art Galleries.

Bunbury Regional Artist's Guild

Please E-mail comments and inquiries to:- kevan@jalindia.com.au