VIVID MOMENTS: Toolangi artist David O’Gradey at his exhibition at Yering Station winery.By ED MERRISON
TOOLANGI artist David O’Gradey may not have had any academic training in art, but has clearly absorbed a range of experiences during colourful years of artistic involvement and travel throughout Australia.
A collection of paintings exhibited at Yering Station winery reflects a change of pace since his days in the art department of films such as ‘The Man From Snowy River’, and reflect deep meditation on our planet and our interaction with it.
The exhibition, entitled ‘Where To Now?’, contains 28 oil paintings, mostly accompanied by short, stirring verse.
The impressions evoked by the poetry flow into and out of the paintings, adding an intriguing dimension.
“Writing and painting are exactly the same process, you’re just using a different medium,” Mr O’Gradey said.
“They evolve hand in hand. Sometimes there are little phrases and words that come first, sometimes a painting is half done and I don’t know where it’s going and a minor verse occurs and I’ll write it down.”
The pictures are mostly landscapes: green paddocks, bursts of cloud in grey or white, deep blue skies and rocks in rich tones of orange, red and brown.
Some of the colour comes from vividly recalled moments of belonging or travel, such as the tones of central Australia scorched into Mr O’Gradey’s memory.
“There’s something about the red, the orange and blue that just pulsates against you and burns into you,” Mr O’Gradey said.
After a hectic life in the film industry and previous work in museum projects, sign writing, sculpture and ceramics, Mr O’Gradey appears happy with what he calls “a more sensible life.” “My first love is painting in oils and this activity now occupies most of my time.” “It’s a silly business to try to earn a living in, but my aim is primarily to express myself rather than try to make a fortune,” he said.
Mr O’Gradey first discovered Toolangi several years ago when looking for a location for a film, and has now called the Yarra Valley home for almost seven years.
“It’s been feeling like home for a long time having lived all over the county you get to a point where you know what you want and where you feel best.”
Mr O’Gradey hopes to paint a wilderness series in the near future, but he won’t get too wrapped up in future plans.
“Life’s a journey and you don’t know where you’re going to go, but the fun is in the doing,” he said.
The David O’Gradey exhibition, ‘Where To Now’, shows at Yering Station cellar door at 38 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen, until 5 September 2005. All commission from sales will be donated to LARCH, the Leukaemia Auxiliary of the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
