Taupo, Anzac Weekend

This is a quick sketch of the house at Taupo where I have been lucky enough to have many a fine holiday. It is looking back at the house was a dark moonless night on Anzac weekend. The family is inside and the fire is lit. Cozy.

The Man in the Moon - a life size painting of a US astronaut

Here is my new project, following on from the success of the Lunar Australia painting at the St Michael's Art Awards, and the recent forays into abstract astronauts, I am painting a life-size portrait of an astronaut on the moon.

It is an ambitious project, and will likely take hundreds of hours to complete.

I am especially grateful to the team of passionate experts at HC Pro in Horsham, who provided me with the enormous digital prints I am using as a guide for colour and detail. They are works of art unto themselves.

The slideshow will progress as I work on the painting over the next months.

Lunar 

Oil on Linen

1500mm x 2400mm

Melbourne 2012

Recent Work

Spring 2
Oil on Canvas
455mm x 450mm
Melbourne 2010.

Storm 2
Oil on Canvas
1010mm x 760mm
Melbourne 2010

Night Moon
Oil on Canvas
305mm x 230mm
Melbourne 2010.

Lake 2
Oil on Canvas
250mmx x 250mm
Melbourne 2010.

Lake
Oil on Canvas
255mm x200mm
Melbourne 2010

Storm, Small
Oil on Canvas
200mm x 200mm
Melbourne 2010.

New Work. New direction.

Storm
Oil on Canvas
Melbourne 2010
102mm x 760mm .

Maybe it's spring in the air. I have a feeling of change overwhelming me. I have not been spending much time in the studio in the last few months until this week when all of a sudden I cannot get out.
The catalyst was taking all my painting off the wall and resolving to start again in filling them up. It is the advantage of having a good hanging system that it is no real commitment in hanging anything on the wall - it can easily be changed.
Maybe I am feeling a little NZ home sick but I seem to be inclined to landscape right now. I have also put away the brushes and resolved to only work with a pallet knife. It is wonderfully messy and immediate.

Landscape - SFO

SFO
Oil On Canvas
900 x 900mm
Melbourne
2010

We lived in San Francisco for a year and it was a monumental year for us for lots of reasons. I have mixed memories of San Francisco Airport - arriving for a new adventure and the trepidation of having to find my way out of the place through a snake pit of road lanes and into the city, driving out to pick up much missed friends and family and being amazed that after a while I was not so overwhelmed by the place. San Francisco was becoming home.

SFO from above looks very surprising. It is a tartan pattern but the spaces between the runways are desolate, scorched earth. There is no effort made to make it look pretty.

The New Age of Landscape - smaller works

I have been working on some smaller Google Earth-inspired landscapes in the series - 2 drawn from the larger works of JFK and Heathrow airports, and one from the view of Williamstown harbour in Melbourne.

Williamstown Harbour
Oil on Canvas
340mm x 340mm
Melbourne
2009.

Heathrow Small 1
Oil on Canvas
340mm x 340mm
Melbourne
2009.

JFK Runway
Oil on Canvas
340mm x 340mm
Melbourne
2009.

See the earlier works here: http://lesleymelody.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-age-of-landscape.html

Lesley Melody on Goollery - the Google Gallery

People have been Twittering and blogging the amazing website Goollery.org, where a collection of the best Google-derived and inspired works of art, science and software have been showcased.

The great news is that my new series of landscapes inspired by Google Earth images has been selected to feature in the Goollery Earth section.

The initial works are quite large and extremely time-consuming, so I have started working on some smaller, more practical sizes.

Take some time to browse through Goollery and see the amazing things that have been inspired by all the different tools and services that Google has brought to our world.

The New Age of Landscape

Heathrow
Oil on Canvas
900mm x 900mm
Melbourne
2009.

JFK
Oil on Canvas
1010mm x 760mm
Melbourne
2009.

I have always loved maps and have enjoyed the new world according to Google Earth. It's a great thrill to look at places I have been around the globe from a birds eye view. Looking at airports , I have been struck by the elegance of these totally functional man-made landscapes. Some of them have an element of tribal art. Without the cues of aircraft and land vehicles the space is very abstract.

The latest work in progress is a portion of the Heathrow Airport depicted in the major work above (340mm x 340mm). The finished painting and 2 more in the series are on this blog-post.

Heathrow 2
Oil on Canvas
340mm x 340mm
Melbourne
2009

Mills Street 2

This is my current work in progress. It is another house around the corner, this time with a small tree standing guard out the front. It is taking forever it seems as I get caught up in the tiny detail.

Mills Street 1

Mills Street 1
Oil on Canvas
760 x 1000mm
Melbourne
2008

I love wandering around Middle Park and Albert Park looking at the houses on the tree lined streets. I was struck by this tree at the end of our street which looks to be standing guard over the house behind. I have since found a few other houses with guardian trees and have begun work on a series featuring them.

Pictat Exhibition, July 2008, Wellington, NZ

In late July 2008 I packed up a few paintings and took myself to Wellington to join my fellow students all of whom were lucky enough to have had Roberto Paulet as tutor at Inverlochy Art School. We have been exhibiting together since our first year at Inverlochy in 2005. I missed the 2007 exhibition as it was the year I moved to Melbourne. I felt very privileged to be included and involved this year. It was held in the St James foyer and was a great success. We are already planning next year's exhibition.

From Wanaka Mt Aspiring Rd

From Wanaka, Mt Aspiring Road
Oil on Canvas
910x610mm
Melbourne
2008.

From Parkins Bay, Wanaka

From Parkins Bay, Wanaka
Oil on Canvas
710x550mm
Melbourne
2008.

Pauatahanui

Pauatahanui
Oil on Canvas
1000x750
NZ
2007.

Wainuiomata Hills 2

Wainuiomata Hills 2
Oil on Canvas
2000x1500mm
2006
Wellington, NZ

With special attention being paid to sunshine by Scout the Abyssinian.

Wainuiomata Hills 1

Wainuiomata Hills 1
1000x860mm
Wellington, NZ
2006

In 2006 we lived in Wellington, high above the harbour looking East over some magnificent mountains and foothills. Cleared of native vegetation by settlers in the 1840s, these hills have never recovered their former glory. The survivors of the Wahine tragedy were washed up on the beaches at the foot of the hills. Here is a photograph of the same range, from which I drew inspiration for this more abstract painting.

Taupo

Taupo
Oil on Canvas
400x200mm
New Zealand
2006.

Noah on the beach at Taupo.