Story & photo - Robin Osborne
Well known Northern Rivers painter David Lane has maintained a tradition now lasting 35 years and has opened the studio doors to his annual pre-Christmas exhibition of new works.
The space is part of the Tintenbar property where he and wife Maureen [a health service executive and former Ballina Shire councillor] have raised a family and created a garden from heaven.
David’s distinctive work graces the walls of many local homes and businesses, including the professional practices of doctors, lawyers and accountants. His bold, unmistakable renderings of the area’s beaches, cliffs, rock formations, and rainforests never fail to get admiring attention.
While home may be paradise, the Lanes are keen travellers, with central and northern Australia, and Southeast Asia being regular attractions. Images from these settings also feature in David’s work, with paperbark forests near Darwin, and a scene of the distinctive karst islands in Vietnam’s Halong Bay being among this year’s exhibition.
David studied at the National Art School in Sydney before moving to what he calls “the beautiful environs on the North Coast of New South Wales… Originally what began as a painting trip and holiday became a passion for landscape and seascape painting.”
Examples of his work can be viewed on his website.
Travelling in Europe in the 1970s exposed him to the European art traditions, Monet being a particular favourite, but it is the Australian environment, not least that on his doorstep, which particularly inspires him.
Winning numerous awards, successfully exhibiting locally and nationally, and being represented in collections here and overseas, take second place to the pleasure of being able to work from home.
Indeed, he feels he has the dream job, doing what he loves, greeting the “long-time patrons and friends” who come to his shows, and looking forward to continuing to paint “as long as I can hold a brush.”
David Lane’s current exhibition is open daily until Sunday 20 December, 11.00am-6.00pm. Outside this period, his work can be viewed by appointment and paintings may be commissioned by arrangement.
The studio is at 31 Fernleigh Road, Tintenbar NSW 2478, phone 0428 878 139.
