City Views
These oil paintings emerged after I attended a 2-day workshop with New Zealand artist Matthew Carter in January 2025.
Afterwards, I continued painting from a few photos I had taken the year before from out of a Wellington Hotel window.
The bird's-eye views of people walking by, going about their business, and how they became a part of the textures and shapes of the street below interested me, turning them into slightly abstract paintings.
Matthew introduced me to the Alla Prima method, working wet into wet over a period of two days for each painting. I found this method to be a very exciting way of working. Very immediate. It now entices me to go out and try some plein air painting.
These paintings above are mainly A4 size. Oil on panel. I will sell these unframed paintings for $800.00 each, plus postage.
Contact me if you are interested.
Working from an image or reproducing what you see in front of you, I discovered, is a very left-brain-initiated technique.
I find that it is not until you begin to bring other elements, ideas, symbols, your own emotions, and layering into the work that it transforms from the left to the right hemisphere, creating a different approach.
The left brain is linear, step-by-step thinking, and mostly time-based. Whereas the right brain is wider and more holistic in its viewpoint and tends to emerge from an abstract realm. Both have their place. Both have their benefits and drawbacks.
A good analogy I thought would be when looking at a blank jigsaw puzzle.
When creating an image on a blank jigsaw puzzle, using the right hemisphere of the brain, one would start with the jigsaw pieces all mixed up and separate from each other. With each single piece, you have to then place something on it, also being aware of what is on the previous piece you worked on, asking how they may or may not relate to each other, and so on, until you try to make a coherent jigsaw puzzle out of all the pieces, to create an image.
When creating an image on a blank jigsaw puzzle with the left hemisphere of the brain, the jigsaw is already assembled, and then you observe what is in front of you and render what you see onto the blank surface of the jigsaw as a whole. Very eye/hand directed.
I find this interesting to think about.
Afterwards, I continued painting from a few photos I had taken the year before from out of a Wellington Hotel window.
The bird's-eye views of people walking by, going about their business, and how they became a part of the textures and shapes of the street below interested me, turning them into slightly abstract paintings.
Matthew introduced me to the Alla Prima method, working wet into wet over a period of two days for each painting. I found this method to be a very exciting way of working. Very immediate. It now entices me to go out and try some plein air painting.
These paintings above are mainly A4 size. Oil on panel. I will sell these unframed paintings for $800.00 each, plus postage.
Contact me if you are interested.
Working from an image or reproducing what you see in front of you, I discovered, is a very left-brain-initiated technique.
I find that it is not until you begin to bring other elements, ideas, symbols, your own emotions, and layering into the work that it transforms from the left to the right hemisphere, creating a different approach.
The left brain is linear, step-by-step thinking, and mostly time-based. Whereas the right brain is wider and more holistic in its viewpoint and tends to emerge from an abstract realm. Both have their place. Both have their benefits and drawbacks.
A good analogy I thought would be when looking at a blank jigsaw puzzle.
When creating an image on a blank jigsaw puzzle, using the right hemisphere of the brain, one would start with the jigsaw pieces all mixed up and separate from each other. With each single piece, you have to then place something on it, also being aware of what is on the previous piece you worked on, asking how they may or may not relate to each other, and so on, until you try to make a coherent jigsaw puzzle out of all the pieces, to create an image.
When creating an image on a blank jigsaw puzzle with the left hemisphere of the brain, the jigsaw is already assembled, and then you observe what is in front of you and render what you see onto the blank surface of the jigsaw as a whole. Very eye/hand directed.
I find this interesting to think about.
If you are interested in purchasing any of these paintings please send me a message.