Collection: Chris Badenoch

I was incredibly fortunate to be born and brought up in Uraidla, one of SA’s hidden gems, a close-knit community tucked away in the beautiful Adelaide Hills and so close to the Adelaide. And I stayed here, marrying and continuing to live just up the road from the town.

Agriculture was a way of life for me as a youngster, my father’s family were market gardeners owning a property in nearby Carey Gully, but after working a couple of years in the family business, I decided to pursue my interests in art.

My lucky break came when I was accepted into a full-time commercial art course which led to a career as a graphic designer, working firstly in a design studio, then for the State Government and finally with a mining exploration company. Learning and applying the many techniques used in graphic design to create eye-catching and appealing designs, illustrations and compositions was a fantastic segue into finding ways to incorporate all this new-found knowledge into my own artwork. 

During my career the graphic design industry changed dramatically, from drawing board to computer. It was an exhilarating time to be a graphic designer, trading pencils, pens and paper for a mouse, software and a laser printer.

After initially dabbling in coloured pencils, pastels, gouache, oil colours and watercolours I settled on acrylics as my chosen medium. My graphic design training sometimes got in the way of spontaneity in my work, in the early work every brushstroke just had to be perfect.

Over the years freeing up my techniques and leaving some detail for the viewer to interpret is something I have consciously strived to do. Early works were very much the subject matter I was most interested in at the time – aircraft, ships, buildings, cottages, plants and animals.

In 2010 I decided to build my own studio and give painting a go - actually get paint on my hands and maybe even create something special on canvas. I still use acrylics, fluid, full-bodied, flow and pouring. I have given them all a go. I’ve attended many demonstrations and workshops, read books and listened to other artists talk about their work.

I mostly use traditional techniques like washes, transparent layering, opaque overpainting, even straight out of the tube painting with bold brush strokes, swipes, scrapes, smears, splashes, flicks and masking.

I’ve painted on artboards, hardwood, plywood, marine ply, canvas and canvas panels. I’ve painted big and small, it just depends on what suits the subject or its intended destination or what I’ve got available in the studio. I like to observe landscapes and nature and take lots of photos. Then I go into the studio to create.

My goal is to keep on drawing and painting, exploring, learning, experimenting and most of all, enjoying the possibilities that creating my own art brings.