2006 USA
America has proved a strong magnet for many artists over the years. Terry Batt and his family lived and travelled around the United States on numerous occasions. The Great Lakes area situated in the upper mid-west region of North America is a haven for freshwater fishing, nature walks and outdoor adventure camping. Batt’s youngest son, Lincoln, backpacked across the Lakes and worked on the Illinois-Wisconsin border to help pay for college tuition fees. Lure of the Land o’Lakes, 2006, acknowledges Batt’s youngest son’s attachment to the Lakes area. The title pun on attraction and locally made lures that Terry Batt collected provides a humorous edge to the painting. The lure also takes on an independent life of its own much like the characters invented for ‘Brush de Boogie’.
The strong formal emphasis in the painting is reinforced by opposing horizontal and vertical forms that firmly anchor and balance the composition. Large areas of colour add intensity and an illusion of depth. While the tree branches, dark foliage and black shadows form silhouettes that create an important and contrasting negative space.
Batt’s aim is to make colour ‘turn the corner’, to advance and recede on a flat surface. The painting recalls old-style advertisements and travel posters but it is a work that is firmly situated in the present.
America has proved a strong magnet for many artists over the years. Terry Batt and his family lived and travelled around the United States on numerous occasions. The Great Lakes area situated in the upper mid-west region of North America is a haven for freshwater fishing, nature walks and outdoor adventure camping. Batt’s youngest son, Lincoln, backpacked across the Lakes and worked on the Illinois-Wisconsin border to help pay for college tuition fees. Lure of the Land o’Lakes, 2006, acknowledges Batt’s youngest son’s attachment to the Lakes area. The title pun on attraction and locally made lures that Terry Batt collected provides a humorous edge to the painting. The lure also takes on an independent life of its own much like the characters invented for ‘Brush de Boogie’.
The strong formal emphasis in the painting is reinforced by opposing horizontal and vertical forms that firmly anchor and balance the composition. Large areas of colour add intensity and an illusion of depth. While the tree branches, dark foliage and black shadows form silhouettes that create an important and contrasting negative space.
Batt’s aim is to make colour ‘turn the corner’, to advance and recede on a flat surface. The painting recalls old-style advertisements and travel posters but it is a work that is firmly situated in the present.