Clara Southern, Australian Artist.

'A Cool Corner' 1918, by Clara Southern.


I have been mesmorised by yellows against purples for as long as I can remember. Walking in to an exhibition as a child, rounding the corner and seeing one of Monet's huge haysatcks brought me almost to my knees, well it brought tears to my eyes and stopped me dead in my tracks. The glow was as if there was a light behind it illuminating it...I really didn't think it was possible to get that effect with paint. was it a trick? No, it was the master at work with his colors.

Clara Southern's painting, image above, also has this wonderful vibrancy of color. The Australian Wattle against the hint of mauve and blues of the Australian Gum trees anchors it in vibrancy and place for me.
This is quoted from The Art Gallery of Ballarat:
'The Yarra River with wattle trees in full bloom was a favourite subject of the artist Clara Southern who studied at the National Gallery Art School from 1883-87. Here in A cool corner it is the yellow of the wattles that not only attracts the attention of the viewer but also draws one into the intimately observed landscape.

Painted at Warrandyte, where she established an artist's colony in 1908, this tranquil scene with its soft grey blues and greens and quietly flowing river, embodies a sensitivity for the poetry and mysticism of the Australian bush for which Clara Southern is much admired'. A Cool Corner is part of the Australian Art Collection at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

This painting combines my love of light and color; plus it's from the Heidelberg School, plus it's of the Yarra River where I have been swimming, walking my dog, riding my bike to since I was a teenager, plus it's by a woman artist and as history had a way of silencing woman it has a louder voice, well to me it does. Personally you can't get any better!

There's an image of Clara's painting on a sign at the spot where she painted it. This is part of the Heidelberg's School Artist's Trail

http://www.artiststrail.com/index.php?page=warrandyte

The Women Artists of the Heidelberg School

This link opens the doors on the lives of the artists, Clara Southern, Jane Price, Jane Sutherland, May Vale and Elizabeth Parsons
http://www.artistsfootsteps.com/html/Women_artists.htm

Wonderful, vibrant woman artists who fought to break free from the shackles of domesticity and the male patriarchal order of the day and follow their dreams.