A small but thrilling pop up exhibition is currently on display at Traffic Jam Galleries – works by Pat Hall entitled FIRST BLOOM.
Pat Hall was born in Kent, England in 1963. She completed her Honours Degree in Graphic Design at Brighton University in 1985 before working as a designer in London. After immigrating to Australia in 1991 she worked as an illustrator for many years and now paints full time from her home studio in Mitchelton, Queensland.
These vibrant, ,exquisite watercolours of flora on stretched paper canvas are full of amazing attention to detail. You can feel the rich or delicate textured surface of the leaves and flowers .Hall’s works are watercolours but look like marvellous photos – posh, glossy portraits of the various plants. Capturing the light is important for Hall and her works are not displayed framed behind glass but rather unframed like a canvas. Hall is a keen gardener and her paintings are inspired by the dazzling sunlight of Australian gardens and bushland.
‘Garland” is a serene, polished depiction of flowering gum with buds and flowers.
Flourish’ is a vigorously explosive, very detailed depiction of a lily and leaves, with the eye drawn from right to left.
‘Spray of Orchids’ is dominated by its purple tone.The main composition of the work is heaviest at the top but it is very strong overall .There is a wonderful use of shadows and the fragile, curling stamen Is delicately depicted.
‘Allegro’ is full of vibrant green leaves with a blurred pink background.
‘Lotus 1, 2, 3’ can be viewed as a triptych depicting a lotus and how it is glorious in full bloom ( the texture depicted in no 1 is amazing- it feels like every vein is visible )while in no 2 there is a strong swirling circular feel to the composition and we can see the petals opening, further revealing the yellow stamen). In No.3 the petals have opened much further revealing even more of the yellow stamen and showing the plant’s decay.
‘Dance’ depicts a delicate yet robust interweaving of leaves.
‘Whirl’ is a dynamic whirlwind of leaves in blue green and purple tones.
The pop up exhibition of Pat Hall’s work FIRST BLOOM is on show at the Traffic Jam Galleries till Thursday 24th December 2020.