December’s exhibition at the Warburton Waterwheel depicts the many scenes and landscapes of the Yarra Valley by Ben Winspear.
Mr Winspear’s exhibition, Moods of the Yarra Valley, is on until 30 December and he said it was exciting to showcase his work to the public.
“It’s fabulous, I’ve got to meet a lot of creative people and it’s given me a chance to explore this end of the valley. It’s quite exciting really,” Mr Winspear said.
Using oil paints, Mr Winspear captures the essence of the Yarra Ranges through lively and evocative depictions of rolling hills, pastoral fields and of course, the earthy tones of the Australian bush.
Having moved into the Yarra Ranges three years ago, Mr Winspear started plein air painting (the act of painting outdoors) to immerse himself within the landscape.
Set across the wall at the Waterwheel exhibition space is over one hundred nine by five inch paintings grouped into three sections.
The small area of the canvas allowed for fast, rough paintings based on the various landscapes Mr Winspear has come across in the Yarra Ranges and proved to be a great way of warming up his skills.
“A few times last year and the year before, the gaps in between getting out were getting a little bit long. So I started just doing these little nine by fives… as warm-ups.”
“I painted in all weathers – you can see summer and winter, I’ve been out in the frost in minus three degrees, in sunsets, sun rises and hot summers… and everything in between,” he said.
Though Mr Winspear started painting nine by fives as a way to get the creative juices flowing, the format actually follows the strokes of a historic art movement in Melbourne.
The nine by five format stems from an exhibition held in Melbourne in 1889, where 182 cigar box lids were used as canvases to depict landscapes characterised by a fresh colours and informal compositions.
The cigar box lids, of course, were nine by five inches big, and it was this exhibition which spurred the Australian Impressionism movement – often regarded as the first truly Australian art movement.
“It’s a beautiful little size and format, so that’s what I’ve been following on. Hence they’re not a detailed work, they’re just an impression – a snapshot, I guess you could say,” Mr Winspear said.
In order to make ends meet, Mr Winspear teaches painting and drawing, and he said it can often be challenging financially.
“You can go to different places and learn to be an artist… but there’s not a lot of education at times about… the marketing and trying to make ends meet.”
Mr Winspear worked a variety of outdoor jobs before he was a painter, and by spending a lot of time in nature, he said it helped him connect with the Australian landscape.
“When I was riding horses, we’d get up at 4am, and go down to the track for training and be in the fog and the sunrise. So those things are absolutely cemented in me.
“So I might be out painting a sunrise or a sunset, and not that I consciously think of that, those things and the feel of it is embedded in my psyche.”
He said seeing the positive comments left by visitors to the exhibition was the most fulfilling aspect of it all.
“The real success is when somebody walks in and says, ‘This really gives me a feel of the Yarra Valley.’”
