Sunset Over The Bridge

This painting is a companion piece to the last image posted. It's how I would envisage the sun going down an hour or so after the time in the last work. I also really like the idea of this being what you would see from the same location in Kirribilli visible opposite the Opera House in that painting.

I was really blown away by the way the city looked during the 2009 Dust Storm. I'll never forget waking that morning and glancing out of the window seeing all the orange light in the air. I thought it was a weird sunrise, or possibly a far off bushfire turning the morning sky red. Went to pay a morning visit and then back to bed - it wasn't until we all woke later and saw the world through a surreal fog and orange photographic film filtered lens... Truly bizarre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Australian_dust_storm



It was some of the incredible shots of the Harbour Bridge which stayed in my mind; it disappearing into the miasma of dust blown out of the desert still sick with drought. I believe some of it even landed on New Zealand. Seldom any bulldust heads in that direction, rather the other way round. Gags aside that was pretty wild. Some funny bugger Photoshopped Godzilla coming out of the dust next to it from somewhere in Milson's Point/Lavender Bay which was hilarious - did the rounds as a meme in Sydney for a while.

(Have to cut and paste this link for some reason - Blogger won't hotlink it)

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=308693&stc=1&d=1253684545



I'd painted the bridge from a similar angle about 25 years before and wanted to explore the complex structure of the arch again - it was a challenge and very rewarding. I'm very proud of the red on the south Pylon and over the bridge.

Have you ever noticed when you stare into sunrise or (usually more) sunset your retina fills with photons and - not certain whether it's lens-flare or the rods and cones overloaded with this radiation filtered through a great deal of atmosphere, shadows take on other colours, like the reds in this work...? It was kind of an afterthought and for me me it really makes it sing.

I also got a lot of compliments on the water, which is nice. I like that people feel it's almost moving, very gratifying.


What do you think..? The day is done? Time to head home?


Acrylic on Canvas
72 x 56 cm