studio notes may ‘26
BUNYA MOUNTAINS| Artist Camp
Inspired by our celebrated impressionists and their artist’s camps, myself and a collective of Brisbane artists embarked out to the sacred Bunya Mountains for a week of painting. The Bunya Mountains are traditionally known as Booburrgan Ngmmunge and are a sacred gathering place for many Indigenous groups including the Wakka Wakka, Jarowair, Djaku-nde, Barrungam and many others from further away.
The Bunyas are a unique environment surrounded by otherwise flat and dry country. Climbing over a 1km out of seemingly nowhere, the surrounding views stretch out to Dalby, Kingaroy and beyond. Our accommodation, Serendipity, provided vast views from the edge of the mountains. Most days we didn’t even need to leave the house to paint, setting up on the deck and painting as the dynamic weather rolled through. We weren’t quite roughing it to the likes of Streeton and co. back in the day, but the spirit of painting was strong and it was great to have so many like-minded people together to learn from and be inspired.
I’ve been coming up here since I was child with family, so the Bunyas hold a significant portion of my heart. I continue to be inspired by the landscape and the most recent body of work has been curated into the first Field Studies Collection . These works are on limited release at the moment - check them out here.
Artist’s Profiles
Dylan Jones - dylanjonesart.com - @dylanjonesart
Scott Breton - scottbreton.art - @scottbreton
Jenny Allnutt - jenniferallnutt.com - @jennyallnuttart
Jared Fountain - jnfountain.com - - @artistjaredfountain
Bronwyn Hill - bronwynhill.com - @bronart
Conor Knight - conorknightart.com - @conor_knight_art
Aleja Hine - @aleja_hine
Cedar Roppola - @cedar_roppola
studio inspiration | edgar payne
as part of my practice, i’m constantly studying the old and contemporary masters of landscape painting. there are many elements to consider when making a picture - composition, colour, drawing, value and detail. the foundational principle underlying all good works of art is composition. details, colour, value and drawings can all be utilised to varying levels of complexity, but without a strong composition, the success of your painting is likely doomed. this isn’t something that’s immediately obvious to the beginner, but once you do start paying attention, you’ll really see the impact of thinking about composition.
edgar payne was one of the more prominent californian impressionist painters of the early 20th century. notable simplification and colour harmony dominate his work but the true power of his landscapes lies in his composition. author of the seminal text composition of outdoor painting, edgar provides artists to this day with essential knowledge on how to capture the grandeur of nature in a compelling and exciting way. showing that it doesn’t matter what colour, detail or subject you choose, foundational composition is the key to interesting pictures. i’ve been working hard to understand and develop my own interpretations of composition in my landscape works and my recent field studies, northern tablelands pieces feel to be some of my strongest efforts. i’ll be posting more thoughts and ideas i’ve learned in composition over the next few months. enjoy some of edgar’s work below .
