One of the best places to look for good paintings for sale is the Internet. Want some proof? Check out South Australia's Brenda Webb.
If you're interested in brilliantly simple image cropping, coupled with the elegant use of natural color, you will love the work of this artist. Webb's deceptively simple style is perhaps best showcased in her series of landscape paintings.
There's the painting, "Kingston Park Marino SA" which features the Marino Beach Cafe, a building of interesting architecture, nestled on a breathtaking beach near Brighton Caravan Park. It has an almost academic approach to it in the way the perspective and colors are expressed. Another interesting landscape is the "Outback with Dead Trees", an oil painting that screams in the hot, unreal red sand of the desert, strewn with twisted dead wood and bits of natural shrubbery--all of it fantastically contrasting with the light blue sky ahead. It's a beautiful place where the artist sometimes camps with friends and family.
"Tennyson Dunes" is a painting of a place where the artist used to reside. The different shades of green swimming in the even more varied shades of blue will pull you into the scenery; it's the kind of image that invites you to come inside. Meanwhile, the clumps of color that make up the dune and its shrubbery are reminiscent of old-school Impressionism. It's only fair to warn you that staring at this oil painting might give you the feeling of standing under the hot, warm Australian sun.
If you can't get enough of Webb's landscapes, check out "Salt pan on the verge of Simpson Desert". The entire series is a celebration of natural beauty.
Speaking of natural beauty, you'll also love "Nosey Seal", an oil painting copied from a photo of a curious underwater local. This is one painting where Webb's talent really shines. She uses the texture of the canvas, as well as her keen understanding of light, shadow, and color, to encapsulate the visual feel of being submerged in the water. It really is one of her best works.
For more liberal use of color, check out "The Canal". This painting, according to Webb, is her brightened interpretation of a photo that her sister took in Venice. It's a very playful, almost childlike application of a wide range of colors. Amidst a rather chaotic display, she still manages to pull the image together by focusing on some technical aspects, like the overall perspective, and the simple yet effective way she depicts the reflections of objects in the water. Ultimately, the image expresses a lot of warmth and vivid life.
Webb further exhibits her talents in capturing the effects of light in "What lies beneath the Brighton Jetty V2". The beams of thick wood under the jetty are being slowly engulfed from below by barnacles which, in the light, look a little like flickering silver flames. This visual phenomenon is framed by a background of light dancing on calm, blue-green water. Whether intentionally or not, the artist succeeds in depicting a rather surreal image.
Besides capturing the fantastical natural beauty of South Australia, Webb also paints still lifes, portraits, and whatever else catches her eye. You can contact her here if you either want to but some of her paintings for sale, or want to commission an artwork.
Check out more of Brenda Webb's artwork, right here on Retreat Studios.