Peter Austin, Dorset Landscape Variations

Peter Austin, inspired paintings and interpretations of the landscape of Egdon Heath, Purbeck and Portland:

The ARThouse Gallery

More images

and some more

From The ARThouse Gallery:

Peter Austin grew up in Dorset and studied painting at Bournemouth Municipal College of Art...

The coast of Dorset provided the subjects for his earliest paintings. At that time he was interested in Lanyon’s “flight” paintings of Cornwall and the use of a high skyline. This seemed to be an approach that was particularly appropriate for paintings of cliff top views at Portland and Lulworth...

A more recent series of paintings mark a return to the landscape of Dorset and especially that area between Puddletown Forest and Winfrith, which Thomas Hardy referred to as “Egdon Heath” - an “untameable place” with “an antique brown dress”.

Peter and Judy: Celebration at The Manor, West Bexington

Maria and Judy, Corfu, 1968

"Whilst an initial reaction might be to label much of Peter Austin's work as "abstract", there is always a visual starting point. At times, the outcome might be a recognisable view of a landscape or place; at other times it might be a set of organised forms that convey a response to a place.

In some works the dynamics of colour are important; in others black and white is used because colour has been considered an obstacle to the way in which the mood or atmosphere of a place may best be conveyed. The impact of weather and time on both natural and man-made surfaces and structures has often been a starting point. Ways in which paint and other materials may be used in order to reveal the contrasts between smooth and worn or eroded surfaces are a particular interest".

http://www.peteraustin.uk.com