PAINTING THE FAMILIAR

‘Market Place’

‘I’ve done several paintings of this part of Adelaide and if I didn’t mention it was near the Adelaide Central Market you might never know!’

PAINTING THE FAMILIAR (Blog by Mike Barr)

‘There are times when we wish to paint places and things that are beyond our physical grasp and with the advent of the internet, references abound for the otherwise unreachable.

In a way it’s a kind of hope that subject matter that is more important and famous will give us a bit of a leg-up in someway. Having said that how many paintings are their of Venice – some are amazing but most are ten-a-penny, mostly because everyone seems to do it.

The well-known landscape painter John Constable had offers to paint Europe to make his fortune but he preferred that which was closer to him in the English countryside. His difference to most landscapers of the time was his focus on everyday life on the river. His landscapes were inseparable from the life that went on around the busy rivers and locks.

People, horses, boats and buildings gave his paintings humanity and not just the romantic view of the landscape employed by most other painters of the day. In a gentle way, he dramatized the landscape with the ordinary.

That which is close to us should not be ignored as subject matter. Even the most mundane can be made interesting. If we live in a city or smaller town, there are opportunities to paint aspects of it in a way that will grab attention as you reveal the character of where you live.

Sometimes it is the light that will make a painting and of course the shadow that comes with it. Something that I change when painting urban subjects is the weather. Even on the drabbest day with no sun or shadow, it can all be made up to suit the mood you want. Also, it may be a bright day but it can all be transformed into a dramatic storm if you try hard enough.

Everyday subjects can be made extraordinary  – it is in our power to do so and certainly one of the most satisfying aspects of being an artist.

Opening our eyes to subjects around us, is a way of thinking. It is reaching beyond copying what is there and instead seeing what is possible. We can live our whole lives doing art without even thinking that we can manipulate and enhance what we see and we lose such a vital part of our profession if we never get do this. It’s the art of being an artist.’

- Mike Barr