Meet a Northern Beaches Artist: The Coastal Inspiration Behind My Work
Meet Northern Beaches Artist Holly Mahoney
Daydreams translated in paint - that’s a good description of the artistic process! I often gaze at the sky and out to sea to try to imagine what colour paints I would crack open or mix together for the perfect blend to interpret the landscape and with what technique or brushstrokes I'd emply to layer to honour those colours in front of me and amazingly found in nature.
Life by the Sea: How the Coast Inspires My Work
Living and painting on the Northern Beaches, I'm endlessly inspired by the way light shifts across the waves and how the sky feels vast and full of possibility. My creative practice is deeply rooted in this place and its rhythm. Like the changing tides from epic Bommie on the horizon at Long reef, King tides crashing over Dee Why Ocean Pool or a sparkling sea of blue lapping gently on the shore - the ocean colour palette is changeable and mesmorising.
Oil on canvas, framed in Tasmanian Oak
The Bommie depicts the large waves that often appear above the horizon when viewed from Dee Why out over to Long Reef on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
The Bommie takes its name from the Aboriginal word 'bombora' - which refers to an outcrop of a coral reef or rock formation, often resembling a column, higher than the surrounding platform of reef or rock and which may be partially exposed at low tide.
The reef is Long Reef Aquatic Reserve and is the oldest aquatic reserve with some of the oldest exposed sediments on the coastline in New South Wales.
Depth and perspective are challenged as these huge powerful waves never fail to impress and defy what an art student is taught about perspective and a level horizon.
The sea dominates my composition with the circular movement of the water's surface and three huge powerful waves forming, playfully mirroring homage to another source of inspiration - The Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831) by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai.
Where The Great Wave of Kanagawa depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the centre and Mount Fuji visible in the background. In The Bommie, the sea also dominates with 3 waves forming from the right-hand side of the composition the violence of the great waves contrasting with the serenity of the empty sky background.
The great wave influenced several Western artists that I also admire including Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, so it was a great joy to create this artwork.
Drawing and Painting Movement, Light, and Emotion
If you have seen my earlier post about 'Following your star’, you will have read about the start of my creative journey—from Geelong to Ballarat, England, Ireland, Canada and finding my new dream home—and inspiration, right here on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Movement of water and light always, shapes my work, whether figurative or landscape.
Discover My Latest Work
Here’s a glimpse inside my studio and what I'm currently creating as an art commission of Avalon, Northern Beaches. An aerial view of the coastline re-imagined with whales and dolphins and waves crashing over a textural ocean pool.
Stay Connected
For my studio sneak peeks and more about upcoming exhibitions (no weekly spam, just updates in artist time), you can join my art newsletter here.
Thanks for being part of this adventure with me. Stay tuned for more!
— Holly 💙
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