Happy Birthday Dear Renee

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Hit the Road Jack

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Way, way back in the 1960s a rambunctious group of teenage boys shared student accommodation in Dunedin New Zealand. My husband was one of the more spirited boys. McD was another.

After a space of nearly 30 years my husband and Mc D were reunited when Mc D and his wife Sarah came to stay with us in Noosa.

When they returned to Dunedin Mc D painted two canvases for us. Here he is on a snowy Dunedin day with his easel and paintbrush.

The painting on the easel is called ‘The Beach’ and is a reminder of their stay in Noosa.

The Beach

Nearly another fifteen years have elapsed and Mc D, Ewan Mc Dougall, has gone on to become one of New Zealand’s leading artists, exhibiting widely nationally and internationally and gaining finalist placings in many art awards.

A Hoy There!

You can learn more about Mc D, his work, and listen to a TV3 interview on the occasion of his 60th birthday- 20 year retrospective at http://www.ewanmcdougall.co.nz

This next painting, full of exuberance and vitality, is called:

Here come the yahoos.

Mc D talks about himself and his work this way:

"I am an Expressionist painter. I rarely plan a painting or do preparatory drawing. I commence the work with a quick wash of strong, primary colour and then begin to hurriedly paint figures-people, animals and hybrid creatures. I add crude marks for volcanoes, hills, sea, buildings, boats, clouds, sun and moon, working with vibrant impasto.

The painting forms and informs me as to what it is. The last stroke is always the title. Above all I prize spontaneity, colour and a good dose of irony.

I love being a painter."

I love the way Mc D’s paintings so colourfully and intensely express emotions. There is a witty, playful dynamic evident, often summed up by a pithy phrase in the title.

Gone to the Dogs

When I spoke to Ewan this week he was packing up paintings ready to hit the road - heading to the New Zealand Paintings Awards. We wish you all the best Mc D. Paint on…

Hit the Road Jack

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