Commissions and more urban sketches.

I been working pretty solidly finishing commissioned paintings and finding a bit of time to work en plein air sketching to brush up my skills before heading off to the symposium in Singapore. (More about this in the future)

Robyn Bauer  Commissioned painting of Ipswich

This one is of Ipswich. The brief was to include the old and the new, and I spent a morning driving around getting a feel for the place. I knew Ipswich had some gorgeous old Queenslanders and when I spied a view of the water reservoirs and the bright yellow and blue shop I knew I had my subject. There are layers and layers of paint, not obvious in the photograph. Acrylic on canvas.

Robyn Bauer  Commissioned painting of Suncorp Stadium and Hale Street Brisbane

This painting shows Suncorp Stadium on the left and some of the Hale Street houses on the right. A strong composition based on angles, and while at first I was hesitant to include so much of the road I think the heightened colour makes the shapes interesting in themselves, and roads are so much a part of our lives these days. It can't all be just picturesque cottages! My son actually said to me the other day that when he was stuck in traffic driving in Hale Street, he thought "I'm in Mum's painting"!

As I mentioned last blog post I am working on a Brisbane River Project amongst other things. I am saving some of the drawings but in the meantime can post some recent urban sketches.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

 Like many Brisbanites I drove out to see the US warship "George Washington" which was moored at the mouth of the river for three days. It is a huge nuclear powered aircraft-carrier with 38 planes on the deck. We couldn't get too close to it as is apparent from the drawing. This was done at Pinkenba.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of Brisbane River

As a total contrast, this boat (although US Mississippi style) is a bit more fetchingly festive. It is the Kookaburra Queen II drawn from Eagle Street Pier.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of cemetery 

This was done on a second trip to the South Brisbane Cemetery at Dutton Park. The little white bridges are private jetties.

Robyn Bauer Urban Sketch of cemetery

 This was a very quick last minute one at the cemetery. The two pylons on the right are the edge of the Eleanor Schonell Bridge. I was itching to draw the angel (not a lot of sculpture in this cemetery compared to the one at Toowong) but still wanted a hint of the presence of the river.

Finally another river one showing the Story Bridge from Eagle Street Pier Coffee Club.