Neil Whalebone

My interest in art began at an early age with my father trying to explain perspective to me on a piece of paper at the kitchen table. I drew a road gradually disappearing over distant hills; this was my first lesson in art and the start of my art journey. Encouraged by a friend and a photographer, I enrolled in a fine-art photography course in 1988 at the Australian College of Photography Art & Communication in Melbourne and I started to take art more seriously; it was a fantastic experience. After four years juggling work,  ACPAC classes in the evenings and life's challenges, I was named 'student of the year' in my graduating year at ACPAC. I learned a lot about art but it had to take a back seat whilst I concentrated on work. In 2020 during the Covid lockdown I started to get more interested in painting - trying acrylic and oil painting and watching many Youtube videos for tips and inspiration. I enjoyed some early success exhibiting and selling paintings with Gasworks Art gallery, Tacit Art gallery, Bluethumb and the Victorian Artists Society. My early influences were fine-art photographers like Stephen Shore and William Eggleston both landscape photographers which probably explains why I gravitated towards the paintings of Edward Hopper, William Wray, and Colley Whisson. I also drew inspiration from cinema and the films of Wim Wenders, David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock.  My paintings are mainly about the beauty and loneliness of the city, suburban and rural landscapes and everyday settings.  I like to  combine traditional realism with the energy of abstract painting and my art is therefore an ongoing evolution .. trying to find a balance between two seemingly unrelated styles.