Wollongong artist Donald Keys is known for always looking to capture optimism and colour with his paintings.
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So it will come as not surprise to those who know him that a walk along The Blue Mile in early winter inspired him to paint a series of people defying the cold weather.
Mr Keys is an artist with no desire to depict ugly and sad situations. And during a cold wet Mental Health Week his posts on social media featured many of his new yet to be named defying winter collection that lifted the spirits of anyone who felt the weather should have been warmer now it is spring.
Mr Keys views the Wollongong foreshore as being like a theme park locals and visitors can enjoy all year round. “And they do,” he said.
He said some people are far braver than others in the way they experience our coastline in winter and in doing so they are great motivation to the rest of us.
Mr Keys could not resist the temptation of capturing how people do that. Which is why every painting has at least one person. He is fascinated with how people continue to enjoy the magnificent Illawarra coastline in the colder months and the impact that makes on those who look on in relative warmth.
“The surf here is so much a part of our life. It is actually like the jewel in our crown because it is just so beautiful. It is like a big theme park here right on our doorstep”.
Every time he has needed inspiration for the series Mr Keys rides his bike to the foreshore and walks up around the lighthouse at Flagstaff Hill and then along The Blue Mile.
“Even in the dead of winter you have these people swimming in the Continental Pool and board riders in the surf. I thought these guys are having so much fun in the middle of winter. Some haven’t even got wet suits on.”
Mr Keys said he and many people like him did not wish to venture into the cold water but still loved strolling along the foreshore looking on enjoying the coastline.
“That’s how good it is. It was only about eight weeks ago I started this series. I have done about 18 paintings now on our winter enjoyment of the ocean,” he said.
“This particular series is of people who don’t let the winter stop them”.
“Some people allow the winter to get them down and some people don’t let anything get them down. I love painting optimistic things.”
“The series shows that here is the winter all around us but there are all these people enjoying our foreshore regardless.”
The defying winter series of 30 paintings is being done in a relatively short time frame with a broad brush style approach.
Which is far different to the highly intricate and detailed Making Steel collection Mr Keys has also been working on recently.
He said the inspiration for his Making Steel collection was from growing up in Wollongong and being fascinated with the steelworks ever since doing a school excursion of the plant at Port Kembla.
His recall of how people worked in that environment during a time when 30,000 people worked there continues to motivate him. But because of the level of detail it is going to take him a while to finish that series.
“But the common theme between the industry and the beaches is that is Wollongong,” he said.
“When I was young were a steel city. Now we are a university city but in this new Wollongong we live in we actually have a lot of tourists. When I was younger we hardly saw any”.
Mr Keys said he loves working with the distortion of reflections in water. And hopes to exhibit the whole collection of 30 paintings early in 2019.
Included in the new defying winter series is his contribution to a Wollongong City Gallery “Artists on Boards” initiative where up to 100 artists have been given the same size board and asked to paint anything they like on it. And exhibition of those works will be held at the art gallery in coming weeks.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
