Living in Dubai

Kathryn at the Sean Scully exhibition, Kerlin Gallery Dublin, at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair November 2011


Just to update:
I have now moved to Dubai, UAE !

We are still in the process of settling in and I will set up a studio here soon. My next exhibition in Australia will be with Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney, October 10-28th 2012
More to come on Dubai soon....

Snow Paintings 2010-2011

'Snow Landscape with Pines', oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011
"Highland Pines' , oil on linen, 61x81cm 2010


"Kings House Pines' oil on linen, 61x81cm 2010
'Snow Landscape with Pines' oil on linen, 61x81cm 2010


'View from Kingshouse', oil on linen, 137x183cm 2010
"West Highland Way', oil on linen, 183x137cm 2010
"Glen Coe Pass' , oil on linen, 137x183cm 2010
"Buachaille Etive Mor', oil on linen, 137x183cm 2010


"Grounds of Castle Howard' , oil on linen, 183x137cm 2010


Yorkshire Snowfall, oil on linen, 183x137cm 2010


'Yorkshire Snowfall', oil on linen, 183x137cm

Tattersalls Club Landscape Art Prize, Brisbane September 2011

There has been a shift in my work...from the wintry landscapes of rural South West Victoria, to the snow covered landscapes of England and the Scottish Highlands. In between all this was the desert of the United Arab Emirates....

For the past few years, I have been privileged to spend time living in the Middle East, immersed in a very different culture in Abu Dhabi and the surrounding vast deserts of the UAE. This experience opened my eyes to the many different ways we all live and relate to our environment. It also provided an opportunity to explore form this region.

From the desert heat we travelled to the European snow covered winter. Such an extreme contrast from desert heat to snow, sharpened the intensity of experience and focus of what I saw around me. The snow covered landscapes of Scotland and England captured and inspired me and still have a hold of me. I was drawn to the quality of light reflected all around, the serenity and vastness of the snow covered land. There was a stillness and softness contrasted by the striking cypress and pine trees and crisp blue skies.

'Yorkshire Snowfall', was painted from the grounds of Castle Howard in Yorkshire, where the acclaimed TV series Brideshead Revisited was filmed. It is a stunning and majestic castle and grounds, one which I have been drawn to since first seeing the series many years ago.

My paintings are slowly built up in many layers of glazing over a four month period, inviting and drawing you in to the atmosphere. I have always been inspired by the quality of light, atmosphere and space in the landscape. I draw upon my intimate knowledge of growing up in a rural landscape, experiencing all the varied weather conditions, with time and space for reflecting in the landscape.

'Winter Landscapes' Solo Exhibition, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne 2011

Kathryn Ryan
Winter Landscapes
July 19- August 6th
Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Row of Pines, oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011
South West Winter, oil on paper, 52x72cm 2011
Morning Fog, oil on paper, 52x72cm 2011

The Winter Paddock, oil on linen, 137x183cm

Farm Hedges in Winter & The Winter Paddock, oil on linen 137x183cm 2011

Buachaille Etive Mor, 2010 & Row of Pines, 2011

Row of Pines, & Top Paddock, oil on linen , 137x183cm 2011

Top Paddock, 137x183cm, South West Paddock, 82x61 cm, Farm Windbreaks, 76x102cm 2011

For the last few years I have been privileged to be able to spend time living in the Middle East, amongst a very different culture in Abu Dhabi and the surrounding vast deserts of the UAE. I gained so much from this experience, living within a Muslim country, however made up predominately of expat workers from around the world. It opened my eyes to the many different ways we all live and gave me an opportunity to explore from this region.

States of Grace series no. 9-12, oil on linen 82x61cm 2011

Highland Pines, King House Pines, 61x81cm oil on linen 2010 &

Snow Landscape with Pines 137x183cm 2011

Snow Landscape with Pines, States of Grace series 9-12

States of Grace series 9-12, Top Paddock

South West Hedge, Approaching Fog, Farm Hedges in Winter

From the desert heat, we travelled to Europe’s snow covered winter. The extreme contrast sharpened the intensity of experience and focus of seeing what was around us. The Scottish Highlands covered in snow were breathtaking . These majestic, vast, snow covered landscapes, inspired and captured me. The quality of light reflected all around, the serenity and expansiveness of the highlands provides such a beautiful place for quietness and time to absorb nature’s power

South West Hedge, Approaching Fog

Opening Night

Sally & Karen
Returning to Australia, with time spent in the warmer climate and tropical landscape of QLD, I was again drawn back to the landscape of my upbringing, the South West of Victoria. This area has always provided a sense of home, a landscape to nourish my soul, the familiarity and history I have with it is comforting and grounding.

Martin, Kathryn

Sally, Karen, Kathryn

Theresa, Gabby, Kathryn

Kathryn & Paul, Opening Night

In painting the landscape, I find myself returning again and again to the Western District. My sensitivity, way of seeing, my sense of place and home have been shaped by my years spent surrounded by this vast landscape in all its changing weather and seasons.

The quality of subdued winter light, the serene atmosphere and large open skies, have always drawn me in. There is a particular layout to the land, with cypress trees and hedges planted as windbreaks and boundaries, punctuating the open space of the dairy farm paddocks.

Snow Landscape with Pines, oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011
Kings House Pines, oil on linen 61x81cm 2010
Snow Landscape with Pines, oil on linen 61x81cm 2010

Responding to my experiences with the landscape, I am trying to convey what moves me in my work. My paintings are built up patiently in many layers of glazing and paint over 3 to 4 months. I am always challenged and exploring ways to develop my painting technique. I find a lot of diligence and determination is required to continually explore new ways of achieving the effect I am after in my work. Sometimes the developments are subtle, the ways I am applying paint and glazes to a different focus of the paintings intention.
I am uplifted by my time spent amongst the landscape, whether it is the vastness of the Scottish Highlands or my familiar terrain of the South West of Victoria, they nourish my soul.

Kathryn Ryan July 2010

States of Grace no. 12, oil on linen, 82x61cm 2011
States of Grace no.11, oil on linen, 82x61cm 2011

States of Grace no. 10, oil on linen, 82x61cm 2011

States of Grace no. 9 oil on linen, 82x61cm 2011

South West Hedge, oil on linen 137x183cm 2011
Farm Hedges in Winter, oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011
Top Paddock, oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011

Approaching Fog, oil on linen, 137x183cm 2011

The Winter Paddock, oil on linen, 137 x183cm 2011

Kathryn Ryan New Paintings TIM OLSEN GALLERY 2010

There has been a shift in my work... from the wintry landscapes of rural South West Victoria, to Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands. In between all this was the desert of the United Arab Emirates...

My views to the landscape were different in the past two years. My eyes were taken from the wintry paddocks of the Western District to the deserts of the UAE, and the high rises of a different culture in Abu Dhabi, an island city built up from the desert sands. This vastly different landscape, both desert and urban was an extreme contrast to what I was used to. I absorbed it all, wrote about it and photographed it...It is still brewing to be painted.

It is from this background, that I then travelled again to Scotland, the the beloved highlands. Coming directly from Abu Dhabi's extreme heat, it was more than a breath of fresh air. So to land amongst the Scottish Highlands covered in thick snow was breathtaking. We welcomed the novelty of cold weather, of dressing in winter clothes, and the sights before us were majestic.

I think the Glen Coe area would probably be majestic to anyone at anytime, however perhaps my experience was heightened coming from living in the desert.

The landscape before me was purely majestic. Vast, beautiful, serene (despite its history), expansive, quiet and still, a place of solitude and vast space, and the light! The light, how do you describe it? Snow on every surface, reflecting light in every direction, from crisp blue skies to hazy low cloud cover. The majestic mountains soaring up in this vast snow covered landscape. It captured me,inspired me,still has a hold of me...

Winter must capture me, or is it the light and atsmspheric conditions? I have been painting the South West of Victoria for some years now, in all its wintry conditions. The quality of subdued winter light, the atmosphere and space have always drawn me in. The recent paintings of the South West try and evoke these wet, wintry, rainy and foggy days so common in the dairy country.

Kathryn Ryan July 2010