As an artist and author, Paul Burman loves looking for the stories in life and in the world around him, and has spent most of his life telling stories with words or paint. His novels and short fiction have been published in the UK and Australia, he’s published numerous articles in The View From Here literary magazine, and his two plays have been performed in Victoria. Having experienced publishing from an author’s perspective, Paul briefly established his own publishing house from 2017-2019 and enjoyed designing the books and their covers so much that he decided to spend more time drawing and painting… and hasn’t looked back since. He describes working a canvas until it springs to life with light and colour, shadows and highlights as an act of revelation – rewarding and exciting.

Migrating to Australia from Britain over 30 years ago, his first impressions were of the scale of the landscape and sky, the depth of the horizon, the brightness of the light, the vividness of colours and sharpness of contrast, but familiarity has in no way dulled this for him. On the contrary, painting helps him continue to learn to see these qualities in everyday life; aspects of which he loves to capture in his work.

While many of his recent paintings have focused on buildings with only a small glimpse of nature in the form of a single tree, a strip of grass, or a hopeful weed in the pavement, it’s the interplay of colour and form, and the richness of shadows that truly captures Paul’s attention. They are imbued with a surreal, siesta-like stillness and resonate with a sense of the stories happening beyond the closed doors, the dark windows, the steep shadows.

Paul’s studio is in Port Fairy, and he has works in private collections in Australia, UK and USA, as well as work in local galleries. He is happy to consider commissions.

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