Painting Environment
The Kimberley has long drawn artists to its rugged, unique landscape. However very few artists stay more than a week let alone during the build up of the wet season and the monsoonal downpours which follow. Kimberley Kohan is one of the few non-indigenous professional artists fortunate enough to live in the Kimberley for 11 years and work within these harsh and sometimes unforgiving elements.
Joys of being in the Outback - Changing a tyre in 45 degree heat
The landscape with its unique formations, flora and fauna provides the basis for much of Kimberley’s work. She frequently heads out in her 4 wheel drive to the more remote and inhospitable places. Boats, helicopters, fixed wing airplanes and trekking with a backpack have all provided the means for Kimberley to increase her knowledge and capture the real character of the Kimberley. The physical environment of the Kimberley has meant that the majority of the fieldwork is confined to sketching, photographing, observing and drinking in the essence of the area. The temperatures often reach in excess of 45 degrees during the build up. The wet season challenges the use of any watercolours in the field. As the rough dirt tracks play havoc with any partially or completed oil or pastel work, Kimberley uses her purpose built studio to produce her high quality work.
Painting Mediums
Kimberley enjoys working and alternating between the three mediums - oil, pastel and gouache. Each medium allows various aspects of the landscape to be explored.Pastels
The rich buttery textures of pastels are applied to the pre coloured Australian produced papers, which contain a light sandpaper finish. This paper provides sufficient tooth for Kimberley to apply her pastels generously and achieve a wonderful glow. Kimberley avoids the use of a fixative as this tends to flatten the minute participles which capture the light. Using pastels Kimberley usually depicts the subject matter in a representational almost photographic manner. Occasionally the subject matter is depicted in a more contemporary style usually found with her oils and gouache paintings.Oil and Gouache
| What the viewer might notice is that Kimberley's style changes to a looser, more contemporary style when she uses oil and gouache. The colours used with the gouache are very intense. The medium allows for this and Kimberley loves to work with the pure colours of Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red, Orange and Yellow. These strong colour combinations are used dramatically to effectively describe the arid, dry landscape and the unique blues in the sky above the 26 parallel. Kimberley has developed her current style over a number of years. She enjoys identifying the essence of the subject matter and creating these elements within the painting. The underlying reason for Kimberley’s work is not social comment or a disturbing sensation. Her work is intended to bring the viewer pleasure and to maybe remember a special part of their visit to the Kimberley or their life in the Kimberley. |
 Hidden Valley Reflected Gouache 51cm x 103cm |