Between them, Ashley Frost and Hal Pratt have lived and worked in Thirroul for more than 40 years.
Of different generations and professional backgrounds, they became friends when Ashley took the initiative of presenting a selection of local artists at the Hong Kong and New York Art Fairs.
“We had a great response from homesick expats who were missing the Australian landscape,” says retired architect Hal, who initially took up photography, with solo shows at Wollongong, Orange and Manly public galleries, before turning to painting about 10 years ago.
Although very different in approach, Ashley and Hal have similar laid-back temperaments and a shared appreciation for the coast, the bush and the desert.
Each has developed a distinctive style of painting: Ashley usually works in thickly applied oils; Hal draws in graphite and paints in watercolour.
Ashley, who has exhibited locally and shows regularly at Stella Downer Fine Art in Sydney , is best known for his glowing, burnished sunrises over Austinmer and Coledale, where he enjoys plein air (outdoor) painting, capturing the light and shade of the bush on the escarpment above his home and the beaches where he runs in the morning.
In Coastal Brush Desert Ochre, Ashley contrasts those familiar places with a very different part of the country, travelling to Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station in the far west of NSW to take part in an artists’ retreat in a remote gorge.
The sparse landscape and changing weather provided plenty of drama, while pushing his work increasingly towards abstraction.
“It’s paradise for painters out there. Something like rain changes all the colours.” Responding to the quick-changing and extreme elements, he swapped his oils – “they take too long to set up and don’t do well in the conditions” – for mixed media including dry pigment.
The experiment was a pleasant surprise: “I like the immediacy of paper.” Meanwhile, Hal was on his annual mid-winter trip to the outback at another artists’ retreat, a camp out of Alice Springs, sleeping under the stars.
Unlike Ashley’s set-up, “it’s all catered for, so you don’t have to think about anything else but painting”.
Hal feels a strong connection with the country painted by Albert Namatjira.
“It was a thrill to sit where he sat and paint the very same place,” he says of the works that pay homage to the Indigenous master in brilliant colours and the stark sculptural forms of rock formations and scrub.
“You don’t go out to central Australia to paint clouds,” he says laconically.
Unlike Ashley, who saw plenty of wildlife, Hal observed none, “except for dingoes, who will come right up and take your shoes”.
Now, these two coastal dwellers with a shared appreciation of the desert are contemplating going back to Fowlers Gap together.
This year is the first time the two have joined forces to exhibit close to home at Clifton School of Arts.
Ashley, who teaches in Sydney and at Hazelhurst Gallery, will also hold a drawing and painting class on November 26 ($55 adults, $25 kids).
Weather permitting, it will be held outside, on the grass across the road from the gallery. Paper and charcoal pencils will be supplied. Places are limited, so bookings are essential. Call 0420 711 853.
