Painting Impressions With James

My Picture For James

Alice Springs Country, 1954 by Albert Namatjira

Paintings are painted pictures; of places familiar and unknown, of moments, of times. In Alice Springs Country, I see a landscape unfamiliar to me, one vastly different from the green countryside that I grew up with here in the UK. The green bushes of the trees are comforting; nature seems to be going even in what looks like a desert-esque climate. I realise how little I know of the climate of Australia. I should read more.

I am struck by the juxtaposition between the fallow, black branches, especially the one at the top of the picture. The branch is a bit unsettling, but I can't take my eyes of the green and the hills. Was the tree in the foreground scorched by heat? But yet the tree seems to be thriving! Oh! how resilient Nature can be.

I think about how there is one tree in the foreground; it is relatively alone compared to the rest of the landscape.

I see red rock, with which I am unfamiliar. I am unsure if I have ever seen red rock in real life; certainly no rock like those in this painting. I think about how there is so much to know about the world; how many things there are to delight and surprise. The world is vast. The landscape of the painting illustrates the vastness of the world, too.

James' Picture For Me

Snowy Landscape With Arles In The Background, 1888 by Vincent van Gogh

I've only been snowed on twice. Once a few months ago, waiting to board a plane, and the other when I wasn't yet a teenager (almost a decade now!) Both times were surreal.

I was born in the semi-arid lands of inner Australia: dry spells forever foreshadowing a potential drought, unexpected summer rains, anticipated winter storms, sunshine three hundred days a year. Never in a million years would you experience snow.

Before you ask, yes, there's snow in Australia. We call the beautiful Alpine Country that for a reason. I've never seen it in the colder months, though.

So to see this painting, where the entire landscape… It's something I've never seen except in the occasional photo or art. Perhaps I've seen it in dreams, but I wouldn't know.

I like the cold. Always have. It wakes you up on days when you don't want to get out of bed, lets you wear layers, and everything feels more alive.

And since it doesn't last all year I savor it all the more.

This is why I adore art: appreciating and making it. No one work is the same for two people, and that's what fascinates me.

When I look at this painting, I'm reminded of experiences I've never had, ones that happened but didn't feel real, and the glory that is our world.

What do you see?

The only thing I know is it'll be different.