Emma McNamara is an abstract painter who lives and works on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. These three pieces come from her latest series : Landscapes for Remembering

Pieces start as studies made in watercolour and oil pastel, often taking the form of quick, instinctive and highly saturated sketches. Translation to canvas is a process of elimination – deciding upon the most important gestures of colour and wash that will communicate the essence of the subject she’s painting.

Simple, gestural line work and mark making, seeks to act as trigger points in the viewer’s mind- to make the viewer recall the setting and any personal associations with the subject in their own mind.

Layers of coloured wash, adds depth to the movement of each piece. Colours are carefully revealed and concealed by layers of textural colour, increasingly white pigment. Colour cuts through to provide the feeling for the memory – hazy days on a sparkling Sydney Harbour, car trips through dappled forests to silent beaches, the colour and energy of a day spent lazing on the shores of a busy city beach.