the Essence of Place

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The Lobster Pot
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

 

Many of the art-lovers that choose my paintings tell me that my art reminds them of time spent in far-flung places around the globe.....


.....Sicily, the Cinque Terra, Positano, Portugal, Greece and Dubrovnik....you name it, my paintings are reminiscent of their special place.


and the very same painting may stir up  memories  of a very different place to someone else!


people often tell me they are surprized at the depth and suddenness of their response to these imagined , amalgamated places of mine.


but I know that it's the 'essence of place' that they relate to.


 ....the 'essence' of times happily spent.

The Lobster Pot
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

I too am amazed , and always delighted, at the reactions and emotions my paintings evoke.


...at the smiles, the jiggles in the body language, the relaxing of the shoulders, the crinkling of the eyes.







The Lobster Pot
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x102cm
H48x40ins
Acylic on Canvas
2009
 sold



this is the 'emotional content' of my art..........

this is the 'essence of place'!

Jo  x

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Ta Da!! best acrylic!

A new Art Show in town , and guess who won 'Best Acrylic' ?

Moi!

Yes...I'm so excited!





'A Place to Dance' was awarded 'Best Acrylic' in the show.....

...there were so, so many really wonderful paintings,

from traditional to contemporary, that I feel very pleased but

also very humbled.

A Place to Dance
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2010
xxxx

you can read more about my thought processes behind this painting ....

it won't be what you think!

just click here

It was a great opening night, with champers, fabulous nibbles and music.

                         and a very happy chappy....me!




                                                          Jo x








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Don't do it!

At night I've been doing a bit of DIY.
stripping the 80's border from our dining room.
we sure did a good job of putting it up....
....the paste just won't give up keeping on.



in its day it was really beautiful - gorgeous tassles, marching quietly  sideways, above the picture rail, matching the colours in the floral curtains, motif repeated with real tassles hanging just-so from the keys in the French dresser.

Ugh. Save me!
My fingers hurt, my arms ache.
I tell myself that it's not boring....it's exercise.
no more tuck-shop-lady arms for me....
....just a few acres more....
....keep going!

and to make matters worse, sweet offspring tells me that she always thought they were corn cobs. 



corn cobs!



corn cobs!!!



why would we have corn-cob wallpaper with elegant floral curtains?
do I look like a total design heathen??  :)
anyway....moving on....
a word of advice for all of you budding interior design afficionados....don't put up any wallpaper.
I know, I know...it's so on trend...but believe me, one day you'll regret that gorgeous French paper, that lovely retro number, that to-die-for fluffy-feely design.



so don't do it!



paint that wall a 'designer colour'....use a fabric drop....hang a painting....now that's an idea....hang one of my paintings!



just walk away from those wall-paper rolls.



Walk away!  Run!

Goodbye corn-cobs!

                                                                            

                                                                         rant over!



                                                                                                 Jo x




                                        















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Sea Change




Restaurant by the Sea
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

 



Like many people, I've always been drawn to the sea.



I can't imagine a life inland....to me summer means the beach, with hot sand and cool turquoise water... and winter means grey skies and choppy grey seas, with whitecaps disappearing to the horizon.
....the heady scent of salt water and seaweed is my favourite perfume, the feel of wet sand between my toes my favourite massage.




so I don't think it was surprizing that in 2006, my first sea -village painting appeared, quickly followed by others.

Island Carnival
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold

some of my happiest memories involve the beach, boats, fishing and saltwater..... both here in Australia and in many parts of the world.

Restaurant by the Sea
 Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x137cm
H48x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold

I've always wanted to make that seachange....so I guess it's only natural that if I couldn't have the real thing, I would paint it.

Restaurant by the Sea
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

what about you?

how drawn are you to the sea?

can you see yourself making a seachange?

....see you there!

                                                                                                  Jo x








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neglected but thriving!

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lovely lovely agaves!



 The ruggedness of the climate and the surrounds of many of the 

hilltop-villages throughout Italy, France, Greece and Spain

lends itself to the planting of Agaves and Yuccas.

the neighbourhood agaves

I have a soft spot for these plants....

strong, tough and resilient, they are able to cope with dry conditions,

heat, cold and neglect .




                            ...... remind you of anyone?   :)




 in pots on balconies,

beside rocky clifftop tourist paths,

and growing wild beneath crumbling stone walls,

the agave is an international survivor.






Tide's Out
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

 

I love the spiky, architectural shape of this plant...

it pops up in many of my 'Hilltop Village' paintings....







Tide's Out
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H132x132cm
H52x52ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2009
xxxx





I have even been inspired to research its shape and that

of similar drought loving plants in the local landscape....

but have you ever seen anything this magnificent?

Agave Attenuata  in flower

I saw this stunner a few minutes  from my studio.

also called 'the foxtail agave'

 .....the plant from ground to tip would have been about 6 metres long.....





but I've since discovered that this agave flowering was not a happy event....

agaves are monocarpic....

meaning they die after flowering.

no wonder I couldn't find this gorgeous beast to rephotograph a couple of months later!

I hope the elderly owner of this plant took some photos.....




maybe I'll print these and pop them in his mailbox.....it might be gone but it's not forgotten!






                                                            Jo x











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Margaret Olley

Photo by Marco del Grande
Sydney Morning Herald
26 July 2011

Prolific, free-spirited and much-loved artist, Margaret Olley, has died at her home in Paddington, Sydney.




Miss Olley, who was 88, was completing work for a solo show  due to open in September.





her friend, artist Donald Friend, once described her as "sensible and sensitive and tender, stubborn and intelligent, proud, simple and complicated."




you can read more in my post  from 16 April if you click here




and the SMH article has some fine links too......here




                                              .......her paintings will live on.






                                                 Jo x








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this heart bleeds

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23 July 2011

My heart hurts for those in Norway, and for us all......

all that hate, all that loss.....

why?.....

our world deserves better.

                                                    Jo xx

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Free to Roam

'Free to Roam'
Jo-ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush ' Series
H122x112cm
H48x44ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2009
sold

I'm living in a suburb where everywhere you look, the bulldozers and developers are moving in.





beautiful old homes are flattened in hours, and as the rubble is loaded onto trucks to be hauled to the rubbish dump, I can't help but feel really sad  for the loss of the memories, the history, the connection with the past.





it's not that I'm against modern architecture.

it's not that I'm against change.

'A Gentle Life'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Travels with my Paintbrush' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
2006
sold

it's just that I love old buildings.
.....and I love new  buildings.....
I love DESIGN....good design, brilliant design.
I love the dichotomy of when people restore, reinvent an old building, and choose to insert a new shell inside an old skin to bring something old into the modern era.




this belief in the power of blending the old with the new was sparked  by a trip to Italy many, many years ago, when we visited a relative in Padova, Italy.




the external appearance of his apartment was definitely 11th Century, but inside was the epitomy of the absolute latest in the best of Italian design.
.....I was gobsmacked, won over....oh boy!




 I realised then that one can honour the past, but still acknowledge the present, and definitely look to the future.




His was a  building that was half 11th century , and half looking towards the 21st century....even though technically it was in the 20th century !
combining the old with the new, for me , that's the way forward.




 to respect those who've been before us, and to honour the knowledge that we're only guardians of this patch of ground where we live and build our lives.





more power to the renovators!





I guess I've always been nostalgic for the past.....not that you could tell!








                                                     Jo x








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