February 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m so happy to say that two of my maritime paintings have sold – in just one week!
One sold in Hobart at the ASMA National Exhibition at the Maritime Museum, and the other
directly from my Balmain (Sydney) studio.
Who said maritime paintings don’t sell? Some poor misguided soul… (or maybe I was just very lucky!!).
Either way, there is nothing more motivating for an artist than a sale.

The money is important of course, but much more than that, we artists generally
(well, I sure do) have rather delicate egos. You might laugh, but think about
Vincent van Gogh, Mark Rothko, George Ault… and so many others.

We artists work hard, often alone, no one responds. So we think, ‘they hate my work’
‘I’m wasting my time’, and precious materials,’what’s the point’ and so on.
A sale totally changes things. Even a tiny sale. Because someone has responded to a painting
you have created, enough to part with their money (commitment) and hang it on their wall (love).

Then there’s the subject of maritime art…
Sometimes it’s not so popular, but I think that’s because the name alone conjures up
images of dusty, stodgy and dark old paintings in heavy frames.

But it really isn’t that way today. Contemporary artists produce beautiful drawings,
watercolours and pastels, they paint sails in sunlight, details and close ups of reflections & ropes,
lighthouses, docklands, the crews or just the ocean and waves.
It’s worth taking some time to view a maritime exhibition –
there’s so much more to see than you might think!