Kathryn Ryan paints ghostly foggy pictures of south west landscapes while living on the other side of the world in Dubai.
There's a great contrast between the ghostly cool
winter landscapes of South West Victoria and the intense heat and sand
of Dubai, but it's one which Panmure born artist Kathryn Ryan faces with
her work each day.
After growing up on a dairy farm in Panmure and training as an artist, Kathryn moved to Melbourne to follow her art career.
A few years ago Kathryn had a break from her art and started to write
down some stories from her family which led her back to deciding to
paint what she knew best - in particular growing up in the south west
and the foggy winter mornings.
Kathryn was drawn to the 'quality of light' in those foggy conditions and the way shapes are highlighted.
Although the paintings have a photographic feel to them, Kathryn
isn't interested in capturing the 'exact reality' of each scene, instead
she uses them to get the feel of the landscape.
The process of creating each painting takes a very long time - as she
explains she might have five paintings on the go at once, and it
usually takes around three to four months to complete those paintings.
Kathryn moved to Dubai when her architect husband started getting work there.
It hasn't been an easy transition as an artist - there are some
logistical problems including getting hold of art materials, and sending
her canvasses to and from Australia.
The burgeoning artistic community in Dubai has also proved difficult to break into with Middle-Eastern artists being favoured.
Despite the challenges Kathryn has continued to work - using her air
conditioned studio and paintings as a retreat into something more
familiar and cool - for many months of the year it's almost too hot to
go outisde in Dubai with temperatures regularly reaching 50 degrees in
the summer.
At the moment, Kathryn's painting 'Winter Farm' is on show at the
Warrnambool Art Gallery as a part of the rehang of their permanent
collection.
