Deirdre Jack

Of Mountains and Pond

 

05 May - 10 June 2023

Opening event 5.30pm Friday 05 May | All welcome FREE

​

My work is strongly connected to the mountains of the Great Divide where I lived over four decades in the High Country at Swifts Creek. Here I was drawn to the rhythms, the greying of colours and the repetitious patterns of nature.

​

I now live in Bairnsdale surrounded by a much-changed vista. The shift in subject from the rough and tumble of the mountains was profound. From a landscape that reflected dramatic seasonal variation to one that is flatter and greener. My paintings continue to speak of ties to and appreciation of the place where I live, of connection with the Morass with its horizontal emphasis, to the vertical landscape along the Rail Trail and the rich patterns beneath.

My recent Bairnsdale works reference water: the McLeod Morass, the East Bairnsdale Wetlands, and a pond at Eastwood. These subjects allow continued study of patterns in nature. I have flattened the forms to bring gestural mark-making to the fore.

​

The mountain paintings are en plein air. They are part of a body of work completed at Falls Creek and encompass a quality of airiness, one which comes from immersion in that breathtaking landscape. Painting on site imbues the work with a vitality and immediacy.

​

All works in Of Mountains and Pond are connected by my love of colour and are part of an ongoing dialogue between colour and mood.

​

- Deirdre Jack 2023