Nundah Village Art Show at Honda Northside Nundah

The Nundah Village Art Show opens this Saturday. It will be held at Honda Northside, 1329 Sandgate Road, Nundah. The exhibition is accompanied by the annual Nundah Village Street Festival. This show includes a wide range of high quality artwork from local artists and I’m delighted to be exhibiting four paintings. All paintings are for sale.

There are two landscapes,and both are nostalgic in that they recapture my love for the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa, rekindled by my visit in December.

Afternoon Light, Drakensberg - oil on canvas 900 mm x 900 mm

Escarpment Shadows - oil on panel 610 mm x 455 mm

Still Life with Lilies is something of a departure from my usual style, being more detailed and representational. In the end I’m very happy with the result. 

Still Life with Lilies - oil on canvas 505 mm x 505 mm

The Reader is a mixed media work, including collage, charcoal as well as watercolour. When doing Sktchy portraits I experiment a lot with different media, finding it a good way to loosen up and try new tools. I like this portrait with a matt and frame - it looks complete and takes on a new gravitas. 

The Reader - mixed media on paper 435 mm x 335 mm

Afternoon Light - Drakensberg

Since I returned from my visit back to South Africa over Christmas, I have been enjoying re-creating the feeling of being in the mountains.  This painting called Afternoon Light - Drakensberg is now finished. Over the last few weeks I have shared small WIP details now I am happy to share the completed painting.

Afternoon Light - Drakensberg - oil on canvas 900mm x 900mm

The painting is quite large - 900mm x 900mm and painted in oil on canvas. It’s one of those rare paintings that seemed to go smoothly from the very beginning. It’s not often that an artist gets into that special state of ‘flow’. Being able to retain this state over a few weeks is also rare. 

There are very few parts that were repainted or that posed problems. 

Early on I realised that the very loose mountain ridge in the underpainting needed to be re-positioned and redrawn but otherwise the painting progressed without too much of a struggle. 

(Disclaimer - usually many parts of any painting will have numerous layers and will have problems that need solving)

I thought it would be interesting to share a few progress photos:

Bright underpainting - 7th February 2018

Later the same morning...an outline of the mountains and a few dark areas have been added.

10th February 

14th February - more work on the dark shadows of the foreground and rocks - preparation for the grass to come...

28th February - more detail on the rocks and the addition of the sunlit grass. The mountain range now has a layer of haze moving them more into the distance.

It was so hard to wait; to be patient; to complete the under-painting of the dark areas before painting the grass over the dry layers.

Remembering uKhahlamba

Holidays are great but often it is really hard to get back into a working routine once back home. Facing a large blank canvas is also something many artists find challenging and setting up a painting routine is hard. A warm up drawing is a useful way to break the impasse. 

Mountain range - graphite 

This year, though, starting a new painting was so much easier. I received much inspiration during my short trip to the mountains of the Southern Drakensberg while I was on holiday. I have one new painting well on the way and ideas for a few others. I love painting and once I get into the groove after a break I can’t understand why I struggle to start painting.

Here’s a cropped WIP section - just the very top of the canvas Remembering uKhahlamba. In Zulu, uKhahlamba means the Barrier of up-pointed spears. The Afrikaans settlers called the mountain range Drakensberg - the mountains of the dragon. This vast escarpment stretches for some 1000 kilometres from the Eastern Cape as far as Limpopo Province in the North. 

The Lethbridge 10,000 Exhibition

This painting Light through the Trees has been selected for the Lethbridge 10,000.

I am thrilled that I have had work selected for the second year running.

This painting was inspired by an early morning walk on a friend’s farm. The early sun shone through the trees lighting the path. I used sketches and photographs, but ultimately relied more on memory to capture the mood of that early morning. 

Light through the Trees - oil on canvas - 510mm x 510mm ©2014 Carol Lee Beckx

This is a prestigious exhibition of small works, held annually at the Lethbridge Gallery, Latrobe Terrace, Paddington. If you click on this link you can see all the Finalists.

The Opening will be on Saturday evening from 6pm. If you are in Brisbane come along for a fun evening or if you’d like your viewing more laid back visit the Gallery later during the following two weeks.

Please note: Blogger is being difficult - changing font size on a whim - hopefully things will revert to normal soon.

Bunya Riverside

Walks along the beach are the one thing that I really miss about living here. Now before you say - but there are great beaches here - absolutely - but they aren't on my doorstep. I need to drive for a couple of hours rather than fifteen minutes down the road.

However, I have found Bunya Riverside. It is an idyllic spot close to my home. It is very tranquil with a path along the river bank, meandering between trees. Reflections fascinate me - there is the magical quality of doubling a beautiful vista. 

Bunya Riverside oil on canvas 1000mm x 1000mm © 2013 Carol Lee Beckx 

My usual process is to work from plein air sketches and photographs. My aim is never a completely representational painting, but rather an image that has been edited, altered and transformed. Completing the painting away from the inspiration allows my inner sense of place to be foremost, rather than a slavish rendering of the scene before me.

The use of photographs originates from my years of living in South Africa where painting in the countryside was fraught with danger. Even stopping along the road to take photographs could often be extremely risky. Consequently, I am used to absorbing the essence quickly and then using the photographic images as a backup.

Bunya reflections © 2013 Carol Lee Beckx

When an artist takes pictures it's hard to not to edit and compose to such an extent that when back in the studio one often wishes the zoom had not been so enthusiastic and that extra details just beyond the image were included.

Bunya riverside © 2013 Carol Lee Beckx

This painting started with a bright under painting of Permanent Rose and a mixture of Cadmium Yellow and Indian Yellow. There are two benefits: the under-painting gives the painting a warm tone and helps banish the fear of the white canvas.


I was so sure that I had some work in progress photographs bit either they are hidden in my vast store of photo files or I got so carried away that I forgot to take any. I do have some of the plein air sketches. These will give an idea of the origins of the composition.

Bunya Riverside Watercolour sketch © 2013 Carol Lee Beckx

Bunya Riverside Watercolour sketch in Fabriano Venezia sketchbook © 2013 Carol Lee Beckx

When I start a painting I refer to my sketches and photographs so I have a framework for the composition. Later in the process the photographs are abandoned as the painting takes on a life of its own. Occasionally, when I lose my way, I go back to the sketches and re-discover elements that I feel need to be included in the painting. 

Knowing when to stop is an art in itself - and I'm afraid I don't really have an easy solution. I get to a stage when I feel there is nothing more to add - or remove. 

This painting has been accepted for the Moreton Bay Regional Art Awards. The exhibition opens on Friday 11th October at the Strathpine Community Centre. You can view all the finalists here.

First Step: Covering the white of the canvas

Facing the empty expanse of the bright white that is a new canvas is daunting for many artists. We often apply a coloured ground to calm our fears and banish the glare. Most times however, it's the first step of the chess game of painting. The first steps are the groundwork; setting the stage for the layers of action to come.

Girl Surfer oil on canvas © Carol Lee Beckx

This morning I had a reminder of a colour that is a frequent choice as an underpainting. Favorite Paint Mixture: Permanent Rose PV 19 was the subject of a blog post by Elizabeth Floyd this morning.

The clean freshness of Permanent Rose makes a wonderful ground for many subjects. As you can see from the images here, I have used it for landscapes as well as flowers. It gives immediate vibrancy to the canvas.

Hot Palms oil on canvas © Carol Lee Beckx

Sometimes the presence of this powerful colour can cause a few problems but it’s seldom been that I have had to obliterate all trace of it in a painting. 

Pink Roses with Mirrors Work in progess© Carol Lee Beckx

 I love the idea of hiding layers beneath my paint - only I know what secrets lie beneath the surface. (Clearly, many mistakes secrets HAVE to be well hidden, never to see the light of day)

I hope you enjoy looking for some of these early layers underneath the paint of the completed paintings.

Towards Kaapse Hoop oil on canvas © Carol Lee Beckx

To read more about Elizabeth Floyd's colour mixtures here is the link the post.