Urban fences and their narratives
If you follow the AnArt4Life blog you will know that Rowdy Wylie and I have been presenting a series on Fences, Posts and Gates. You can catch up the the links below if you have missed these posts.
For me fences are like the pages in a book. Follow the fence to learn the narrative.
There are all kinds of fences and walls to protect properties and over the years I have found myself enjoying painting some of these structures into my paintings. I love the nooks and crannies created by buildings and structures: and the interaction between people and animals with these structures is intriguing.
As a genre artist I am always on the look out how to create a narrative in my painting. The above work was painted about 40 years ago (!), although titled Bendigo Secrets it was really an experiment in shape, pattern and texture and I used the fence and walls as important structures in the composition.
But narrative abounds: the high fence on the left plus the walls of the buildings give the two chaps in the background the chance to have a private chat!
Below are further illustrations of my desire to use fences and walls in my paintings - especially as they make wonderful structures for showing off plants.
From time to time over my life I have painted town scenes for friends. Picket fences help highlight the actions in these narratives: a backdrop for the characters to move against or hang over.
Of course, leaning over a fence isn't the prerogative of country folk - city folk do it to!
Animals just love fences and walls - especially cats. They form an essential part of their lives and their playground.
Fences are wonderful to paint as you can always use them as structures in stories and to help frame characters.
Next time you walk past a fence or a wall - stop to think who or what might have passed this way possibly for hundreds of years if you live out of Australia or New Zealand - we have only been into fences for about 150 years!
Coming up soon in the Fences, Posts and Gates theme will be Gates.
If the fences are the pages of a book, the gates are the Chapter headings.
Join Rowdy Wylie and me as we travel along some more fences and arrive at the gates.
Anne Newman
Anne Newman