Capturing the Poetry of the Bush

The Australian Landscape has always been represented in the works of thr artist chosen to commemorate Australia Day, but this year, for the first time, the Herald has asked the artists to focus on this wonderful enduring tradition. When choosing this year's artist we were eager to showcase the diversity of Australia and the many different ways artists express what they see and experience.

The Herald is delighted to have Luke Sciberras on the front page this year. Still relatively young for an artist, Luke has established himself over a decade as someone committed to making art that expressed the poetry of the bush. His reputation continues to grow.  An incessant traveller, his many painting expeditions have taken him to some of this country's most famous landscapes, including the Flinders Ranges in South Australia, Wilcannia's Paroo River in NSW, the MacDonnell Ranges in the Northern Territory and recently, Lake Eyre. When not travelling Luke still lives and works in historic Hill End, where he plays host to many artist friends who come to paint and share Luke's generosity and love for life.

This year we also feature a remarkably inventive artist, John Peart, whom many consider one of this country's finest abstract painters. His unique, complex and meditative paintings span almost five decades of practice. His Australia Day painting Angophora pays homage to the orange, twisted, bark-shedding trees the populate the Sydney basin.

I am also very pleased that we have been able to include Rosella Namock, an acclaimed indigeous artist from the Lockhart River region in Queensland. She is a teacher and a highly regarded artist who has had numerous exhibitions in Australia and overseas.

I would like to thank the artists for coming up with such great work and I hope you enjoy the results of their endeavour.

Click here to view the works featured in the exhibition at the Tim Olsen Gallery via the Sydney Morning Herald online picture gallery. http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/entertainment/art-and-design/the-great-australian-landscape-20120125-1qh1l.html