Scott McDougall’s collection of still life and landscape paintings capture his local neighborhood of far Northern NSW. A contrast to the bustle and hum of inner Sydney where he lived for forty years. Having been settled in the area now for five years, Scott has become familiar with the lush rural vistas. His new works reflect the calmness and tranquillity of the Tweed Valley.
Scott has been involved in a number of prestigious art prizes including the Wynne Prize, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Award, The Gold Coast prize, the Mosman Art Prize and the Sulman Prize. His artwork is featured in private collections internationally, and has exhibited throughout Australia, Scotland and Vietnam.
Ann Maree Clark’s artworks incorporate a contemporary aesthetic with a naturalistic approach to realism and classically structured compositions. Her interest in traditional drawing and painting has lead her to study the methods of the European masters both independently and through selected workshops with leading classically trained artists. She is able to adapt her style to her subject, sometimes painting in layers using under painting and glazing techniques to enhance the concept for the piece, and sometimes taking an alla prima, ‘all-at-once’ approach, particularly in floral and outdoor painting where her work tends towards impressionism. Conceptually Ann Maree has an interest in classical philosophy, particularly the classical ‘transcendentals’ – truth, beauty, goodness and unity. Her still-lifes, interiors, portraits and landscapes record a contemplative observation of these transcendental ideals in everyday life.
“This collection of recent work was inspired by the idea of reverence. For me, painting and drawing from life requires a reverence towards the subject; an attitude of humility and openness that unlocks aesthetic experience. It is a natural response to the recognition of inherent value wherever it is encountered, and the more it is practised, the more it reveals truth and hidden beauty.”
– Ann Maree Clark
Ann Maree has been a finalist in a number of national painting awards, including the EMSLA still life award, the Kilgour prize for portraiture, the Lethbridge 10000, and the Mosman Prize. She paints commissions and her work is held in private collections in Australia and overseas.
Image: Shadow Play, Mt. Warning | Scott McDougall, Oil on board | 60 x 90cm
