Bush sunset

A stand of slender birch trunks fills the picture, their pale, papery bark striped with black and warm yellow highlights. The trees march vertically across the canvas in a steady rhythm—some trunks leaning slightly, some nearly straight—creating a sense of repetition and order that is also alive with small irregularities. The bark has been painted with thick, tactile strokes; you can almost feel the roughness and the flaking layers.

Behind the trunks a broad swath of intense, rusty red stretches horizontally, suggesting a distant field or a wall of autumn colour. That bold red is set against a lively canopy of greens at the top of the image and deep, cooler tones near the ground—blues and purples mix with mossy greens—so the composition reads as layered planes of colour: foliage, middle distance, and forest floor. Those layers are not smooth washes but energetic, textured marks; the paint seems to have been applied with a palette knife or vigorous brushwork, giving the scene a sculptural, almost mosaic quality.

Light in the painting feels warm and directional: the trunks catch highlights that make them stand out sharply against the red behind them, while patches of shadow and darker pigment at the base of the trees anchor them to the earth. The overall effect is both intimate and theatrical—close enough to reach out and touch a trunk, distant enough that the red expanse hints at something beyond the immediate grove.

Emotionally, the picture balances serenity and vitality. The regular vertical lines of the trees provide calm and order, but the saturated colours and textured surface convey energy and a sense of the natural world in strong, expressive mood—autumn heat, the hush of a forest lit from behind, or the echoing rhythm of trunks like pillars in a cathedral. It’s a painting that rewards quiet looking: the more you attend to the marks, the more subtle shifts of colour and movement reveal themselves.

Follow

Hi ,browser of original Art ! I'm a self-taught Artist born in Darwin, the Northern Territory, Australia
I spent my early years in a town called Batchelor, 98 km south of Darwin. This sunny, natural, free, bush lifestyle taught me respect for the land,it’s creatures and inhabitants.Those vivid memories of the sights, sounds and smells of the Australian northern Tropics of which I am often inspired to paint, will stay with me forever.

My father informs me that I was always painting and drawing as a child, and he actively encouraged my creativity. He once commissioned some Indigenous Artists to paint a mural on our lounge room wall and I remember this was so wonderful and inspiring it gave me my first insights into the magic of art.
I have lived in Dandenong, Victoria, for the past 50 years and I paint on canvas, wood, ceramics, furniture, anything that will hold some paint!
My husband, Robert Walker, a wonderful master potter for more than 50 years taught me how to paint on ceramics. Though not a painter himself he knew all about glazes and how they reacted and fired in the kiln. I had to figure out the rest of this complicated process myself and after some time even managed to win some hand painted ceramics awards in International trade shows in the 80's and 90's (under our business name of Colourware Ceramics).
I’ve entered small Art exhibitions in both Melbourne and Sydney and have won a few encouragement, Merit and honourable mention awards when I was in my 20’s/30s.I’ve also had a solo exhibition in the past, in a place called ‘The Old Cheese Factory’, Berwick in 1992, a gorgeous old world public art gallery here in Victoria made of blue stone and wood.
It was such a pleasure to exhibit there, given the wonderful atmosphere,but since then due to a full time caring role in my family, I have not found the time to have any further exhibitions. Hence finding Blue Thumb as a means of exhibiting my work has been a real blessing.
I paint the ideas, visions and memories in my mind. I paint entirely from my imagination, mind’s eye or spirit, rarely painting in any other way.Occasionally, I might try to paint what I see in the garden or paint a scene that has impressed me from a camping trip or a bush walk, nature is a most powerful inspiration.
My favourite paints are Acrylics, because of their brilliant colours and quick drying time. I’ve been told by many that my paintings have originality and a unique and distinctive style.It is true that I don’t copy at all from other works and I don't reference any materials before painting. I just start painting and see what wants to emerge onto the canvas and my paintings nearly always surprise me in a wonderful way!
I love reading an amazing book called ‘A Course in Miracles’ which has helped and inspired me for more than 25 years, so hopefully you will see that some of my paintings have a type of spirituality about them. My paintings have been called "other worldly "which is such a lovely compliment to me.
I also love fossicking for shells and rocks and gold panning, anything really where I can be in an environment and at one with nature which gives me the life energy and spirit that goes into creating my Art.

***All Art works shown here at Bluethumb.com by Catherine Walker are copyright (c) of the artist Catherine Walker ,nothing is to to be printed , copied, downloaded ,uploaded, photographed or used in any way without the artists permission "All rights reserved "-thank you for your understanding.