About Hugh
Hugh was born in Goroke, Victoria but has lived in Adelaide for the last 50 years. After graduating High School he went to Teachers College and became a secondary school art teacher. He taught for 15 years at various high schools around South Australia. He always felt that he would rather be making the art not just teaching it, but it became a part time affair although it was always in the back of his mind that one day he would 'get back' to painting. He only really started painting again about 5 years ago and has been developing his style since. His works show changes in technique and style as he searches for the direction that the art is showing him. Recent paintings show a vibrancy in colour in an effort to capture something of the mood of the moment represented.
Hugh says this about his art:
"People and what they are doing has always been fascinating to me and is a major part of what is in my artwork. I consider the depiction of the human form to be the pinnacle and greatest challenge in art. And I am discovering that it is the passion and vitality of life that I want to capture in my paintings. So I use acrylics because they allow me to ‘underpaint', then quickly, dry or semi-dry to ‘overpaint' in transparent colour or opaque. Multiple outline and form enables me to suggest the vibrancy and energy of living, moving things. People are a major focus of my paintings. Those moments of total absorption and passion with which people do things. The people depicted are not stationary, but moving and vital. They are alert and passionate. The colour and texture, the rhythm and the composition built up through vigorous paint application aim to capture some special moments." Continued...