Elise Hawthorne
When I first came across Robyn Collier’s landscapes I tried hard not to stare open mouthed, was it a photograph or the work of a contemporary realism genius? Well it is the later and Robyn is definitely at the top of her particular game.
Sunlight and Shadow
As a prominent Australian wilderness landscape and seascape painter, the natural world is Robyn’s muse. I asked her where her affinity with nature came from and her reply, “As a very young child my parents were into bush-walking and paddling round ocean rock-pools taking photographs and although I hated the walking then I guess my love of nature took root at that time.”
Robyn loves flora and fauna in all its forms, “When I was 11 I went to England with my mother and new stepfather and as a hobby we used to look for fungi. My mother painted the various fungi we found and we ate the non toxic ones. They were really interesting and I still have a love and fascination for fungi today.” A woman after my own heart as I used to dream of having carpets made of moss throughout my house…but I digress.
Robyn would never have believed that her upbringing would have led her to earn a living from painting the nature she grew to love. Her paintings have focused on a variety of subjects over the years, from horses to her children to painting remote places.
Robyn isn’t formally trained, she paints instinctively. Her father Brian Baigent was a very successful artist so it is in her genes. Once Robyn picked up her painting brushes she never looked back and she became obsessed with learning, “I used to go into Sydney at least every two weeks and look around all the galleries – studying the different artists and their techniques.
Storm Surge
There were many galleries back then but there were not the workshop opportunities, so it was simply a lot of observation, hard work and failure that has made me the painter I am today. It is only doing the hard yards that have helped me achieve a professional status. It is a long apprenticeship but such a rewarding one. I am filled with gratitude that I have been able to sustain a living from doing something I truly love.”
Travelling round Australia and New Zealand is another of Robyn’s passions. Australia is a diverse, beautiful country and New Zealand, wild, quirky and untamed. Her top five spots to visit are:
- The Fitzgerald National Park and Esperance in Western Australia would be my pick in the top 5 for the wild beaches, crystal clear aqua water and wildflowers – a painters paradise;
- Milford Sound in New Zealand is so different, amazingly beautiful with its rugged, snow-capped peaks, waterfalls and reflective water. Often it is shrouded in mist;
- The Pilbara in Western Australia with the desert, the turquoise ocean, the rugged gorges of Karijini National Park. The colours are vibrant, the red of the earth straight from the tube and the contrasting wildflowers of every colour quite unbelievable. A painting everywhere you look;
- Lamington National Park in Queensland – particularly in the area near O’Reilley’s Guest House. A totally unique experience walking in this cold climate rainforest. If you are lucky enough to get to Bithongabel Lookout you will find gigantic Antarctic Beech trees, 3000 years old, covered from top to bottom in moss and usually shrouded in mist. And leeches! But painting these magnificent trees has been a passion for many years but not easy to portray effectively;
- The Burragorang Valley would be choice number five. It used to be a beautiful, picturesque, farming valley where many artists painted the ranges and ramparts and formations that surrounded the valley itself. In the 50’s it was flooded to form the water catchment area known as Warragamba Dam and now Sydney’s water supply. People were evicted from their homes, the silver mining town of Yerranderri was cut off by rising flood waters and became a ghost town. For a long time I thought there was nothing left until chance took me into the valley in the 80’s with a ranger. Access was then through locked gates on a rough track. I was amazed. So much of its beauty had survived. I have painted that valley probably more than any other place in my artistic career. Although I no longer have access to that area, they were some of the most productive years and became the foundation on which I formed my wilderness association.
The Kiss of Evening Sun
Robyn’s transition from artist to artist/ teacher first came about by a visit from a stranger who asked her if she would travel to Blackwater in Queensland to teach. Since that day Robyn has constantly taken up tutoring positions around Australia and New Zealand and believes that, “to some extent tutoring has helped me become a better artist. I now participate in many workshops and have grown to love the companionship and relationships that I have forged over the years.”
Where the Groper Lives
Robyn’s current exhibition The Hidden Landscape, her first for over two years, depicts some of her favourite places as all of the paintings in this exhibition are from places she really enjoyed or moments in time that she delighted in.
Ocean Rock Pool
The title of this exhibition came about because of her love of painting places that are not easily accessible, as Robyn describes, “The title then led to the painting of some things such as Ocean Rock Pool, because to many people it could remain ‘hidden’. I really enjoy painting these moments in time. I love the challenge of unravelling a subject such as Storm Surge or Sunlight and Shadow or painting the texture of the moss in Ancient Stand of Antarctic Beech. As my painting skills have increased over the years I have sought to paint more difficult subjects. Where the Groper Lives was an exercise in patience. It’s very easy to get lost when painting underwater rocks.”
I’ll leave you with one last quote from this immensely talented Australian artist, “The inspiration for the creation of these paintings is, I hope apparent. Simply our magnificent country, the awesome beauty of nature, and the continuing desire to impart to others, the need to look after our planet.”
Robyn Collier
The Hidden Landscape
1 – 20 May, 2014
Lost Bear Gallery
Lurline Street, Katoomba
NSW Australia
www.robyncollier.com.au
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