The view from Steve Singline’s Wandana Heights home inspires his art daily.
Through the treetops he can see across the Geelong region, to Corio Bay and beyond.
His new collection of work – Beyond The Secret Garden – is on show at Boom Gallery, a space he has a longstanding relationship with.
“This current series continues my exploration of atmospheric landscape painting,” Steve shares.
“The works are full of imagining. Imagining what lays ahead of us as we venture out into the ‘beyond’.
“There are works within the series where there is a sense of arrival in a pause place, a place to be still for a moment. There are other works where the sense of journey stretches out and calls us to continue on.”
Steve’s work is on display in the front space of Boom Gallery, hoping to catch the attentions of passers-by.
“It is a series of small works that can hopefully serve as punctuation marks in the streetscape,” he says.
Typically Steve paints a variety of sizes, from postcard size to much larger.
His main aim when painting is for people to have an emotional connection with it.
He has been asked during previous shows where each landscape or seascape is actually located, but he says that is the mystery of them. It could be Corio Bay or it could be Point Lonsdale.
He instead wants viewers to form their own connection they can enter into and perhaps a painting could be a memory of a holiday.
“I also get it that with cost of living pressures not everyone can afford art, so when people find a connection with my work that for me is another confirmation that you’ve gone on the journey with me,” he says.
Painting is not something Steve has always done. He enrolled in a visual arts course as a mature aged student in 2008 because he wanted to learn how to paint.
He has memories of art in high school and wanting to do art subjects but back then it more about getting a job.
Steve has a trade background as an automotive spray painter, is a self-taught sculptor and has worked with the Geelong City Council on managing its public art program.
More recently he has been working with Wadawurrung Traditional Owner Aboriginal Corporation to provide technical advice and support on projects where culture is expressed in urban design or public art.
“These are legacy projects that celebrate culture,” he says.
“My hope is that projects that increase the visibility of culture in public places will further strengthen cultural pride for current and future generations.
“I feel really fortunate that I’ve had the opportunity to develop skills in public art management, and I can walk alongside traditional owners.”
For his own work, Steve is in his home studio three to four times a week. Inside there is also a massive collection of CDs that replaced his record collection he gave away when moving once.
“I always have to have music on when painting and I find it helps,” he says.
“If I’m feeling stuck I’ll put something on that is more lively to physically get me moving, other times when I’m featuring out soft clouds I need something more relaxed.”
And his taste in music does not discriminate. He has everything from ABBA to Led Zeppelin, Paul Kelly to Missy Higgins.
Originally from Sydney, Steve has been in Geelong for 25 years and says it has been a great place to raise a family, with a granddaughter recently joining the ranks.
“I’m really grateful Boom Gallery asked me back for another show. I don’t take for granted that as great as place as Geelong is, without a commercial gallery like Boom there would be fewer opportunities to create work for a show,” he says.
Steve’s work is on display at Boom alongside Graeme Altmann’s Moonah and Jen Tarry-Smith’s The Sun Goes To Sleep In The Sea.
Steve Singline’s exhibition Beyond The Secret Garden runs until February 21 at Boom Gallery, 41 Pakington St, Geelong West