THE vast drama of the Australian sky has Judith Leuenberger well and truly hooked.
The West Footscray artist is putting the finishing touches on her latest exhibition, a series of 80 works called Dancing Clouds.
Leuenberger says the ever-changing sky over Melbourne has been a constant source of surprise and delight.
“I’ve been trying to capture the depth in the sky, taking lots of photos as a starting point. Then the painting takes on a life of its own.”
After completing a recent series of bird’s-eye views of rock pools, the retired art teacher found herself spending more time looking up, becoming “entranced by the fleeting light of the sky”.
It was all so different to the skies of her childhood in Yorkshire, England.
“[There] you can have four weeks at a time of a dull steely sky, but in Australia it’s just total magic. I think I’ll be painting skies for the rest of my life.”
Dancing Clouds will be at the Joel Gallery, 5 Sargood Street, Altona, from this Friday to next Wednesday with the official opening at 2pm on Saturday.
