{"id":4089,"date":"2019-05-06T13:15:10","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T03:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/?p=4089"},"modified":"2019-05-06T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T03:15:10","slug":"john-maitland-%e2%80%a2-splash-of-colour-%e2%80%a2-artists-statement-red-hill-exhibition-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/?p=4089","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0John Maitland \u2022 Splash of Colour\u00a0\u2022 Artist\u2019s Statement &#8211; Red Hill Exhibition 2019\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb_share_1\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px;\"><a name=\"fb_share\" type=\"icon_link\" share_url=\"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/?p=4089\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php\">Share<\/a><\/div><div><script src=\"http:\/\/static.ak.fbcdn.net\/connect.php\/js\/FB.Share\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4090\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1199\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland2019.jpg 1199w, https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland2019-300x103.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland2019-768x263.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland2019-1024x351.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px\" \/>Being an artist, I believe I see things and situations rather differently to most. My work is made at my Gold Coast studio, at Korora, Coffs Harbour and sometimes in the UK. Whilst it is not context specific, the context does affect how I work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, after being awarded an important commission for an historic Brisbane school, I happened to glance at a print of one of my works which was painted some years ago and, which is now in the collection of Brisbane Catholic Education. \u00a0I was immediately captivated by the humble old chair which is depicted in the piece. Although an integral part of the painting, it is simply and quite childishly portrayed. But \u2026it is quite powerful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I became fixated on it, just an old school chair, it had been around the house for a few years. I decided to honour it by painting it into this new small series called Ballerinas. So, why did I decide to paint a series around an old chair, rough around the edges? Well, contrasted with the beauty of the ballerinas, it has an incredible beauty of its own.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In my latest exhibition I\u2019ve drawn inspiration from a few themes, the ballet, youth and, from one of my favourite series which I have revisited, Sunday School.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Ballerina paintings most are with the young ballerinas resting after their training, a little exhausted, a little exhilarated and their naivety and frailty clearly shown\u00a0within the harnessed imperfections of each work.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another\u00a0 theme, Sunday School is from a series I did quite a few years back,\u00a0 it\u2019s simply an excuse to have a lot of fun with paint, children either tumbling out of\u00a0 or into Sunday School with big sisters and brothers or parents in a suggested vast landscape, with the Sunday School itself nowhere to be found!<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the course of the last few months I\u00a0also embarked on a series of works for which I have a great affection. In general, the paintings depict youthful figures\u2026female but a younger brother in some, they represent the joy of youth when every day is lots of fun, giggling laughing and just being together in a little huddle&#8230;. just the way things should be in an idyllic world.\u2026 so important now when pressures on our youth from a number of quarters can make that special time extremely difficult to navigate!!! \u00a0They are in truth rather story bookish, and they are meant to be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> A little while ago I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Crescent Heads, a coastal town in NSW. It was exhilarating itself just to watch the fun and joy of adults and children hurtling down the Killick Creek on buggy boards towards the ocean, courtesy of the current as the tide goes out. There the idea for the series was hatched, not to depict sea views, but \u00a0just children being children in a range of settings.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I am also looking forward to painting\u00a0 a response to the recent news stories about the historic Travelling Stock Routes and the drovers who have been moving extraordinary \u00a0numbers of cattle down these from North Queensland to Dalby and beyond. Amazing!! I can\u2019t promise anything due to time constraints but\u00a0keep watching this space!<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\nIn conclusion, I\u2019d like to share with you that as I work I move from what appears to be chaos to the finished work. I have an almost ritualistic sequence of physical movement and paint application using flicks and dabs and splashes, building them up, leaving them outside in the elements. There is a cerebral interaction between myself, the painting and the canvas which makes no sense to anyone but me. Eventually, when it is sitting on the easel it makes sense. And with the addition or subtraction of strokes of paint and harmonising of colours like a musical score sheet it will make sense as a completed work of art.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4092\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland_2_2019.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"899\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland_2_2019.jpg 899w, https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland_2_2019-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/JohnMaitland_2_2019-768x351.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 899px) 100vw, 899px\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/redhillgallery.com.au\/john-maitland-2019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VIEW UPCOMING 2019 EXHIBITION AT RED HILL GALLERY HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"al2fb_like_button\"><div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n(function(d, s, id) {\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=499790883388518\";\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, \"script\", \"facebook-jssdk\"));\n<\/script>\n<fb:like href=\"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/?p=4089\" send=\"true\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" share=\"false\" width=\"150\" action=\"recommend\" font=\"arial\" colorscheme=\"light\" ref=\"AL2FB\"><\/fb:like><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ShareBeing an artist, I believe I see things and situations rather differently to most. My work is made at my Gold Coast studio, at Korora, Coffs Harbour and sometimes in the UK. Whilst it is not context specific, the context &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/?p=4089\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4089"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4094,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089\/revisions\/4094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artchat.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}