Lennox Street studios, Newtown, NSW, Australia

Lennox Street Open Studio Weekend Annual Event

In 2000, I returned home from a three-month art residency in Switzerland at the behest of art patron Martin Schweizer to paint and exhibit new work in Bern.

On my return, I moved to the Capertee Valley on the western edge of the Blue Mountains. Nestled amidst nature's embrace, I lived alone in an isolated rustic shack on a bush property, far from the modern world. Devoid of electricity, I relied solely on candlelight and painted during the day; the sound came from the surrounding landscape and etched itself into my subconscious, returning at night as I drifted off to sleep. Moonless nights rendered my world pitch-black, leading me to contemplate and visualise my painting in the quiet, without distractions. No lights, devices or screens were constantly draining my retinas. In the magic moments between sunset and twilight, white and coloured flowers would glow with a fluorescent vibrancy under the gradation of a blue-toned sky buzzing with ultraviolet light. The night sky, clear of light pollution, appears as a ghostly grey gradation between the stars rather than the blank perceived black. My palette shifted towards higher-frequency, blue.

The landscape around me became internalised; the canvas no longer reflected life but materialised as a window, offering glimpses of the magnificence of ecosystems and the fragility of the natural world. This will always be reflected in the work. GRC.

Glen Davis, Capertee Valley, NSW Australia