Painting the quiet Streets of Eltham

SOME PLACES STAY WITH YOU LONG AFTER YOU HAVE LEFT…

Eltham has always been one of those emotionally significant places to me. After living here for the past 22 years, I’ve learned there's a softness to Eltham that keeps inspiring me as an artist.

It has historical buildings, cottages and large grand homes, old sweeping trees as you enter after the big roundabout coming into Eltham Town and is backed by the surrounding gumtrees and vast bushy landscape.

I’m less interested in painting a perfect representation of a place and more interested in capturing the feeling of being there. Many of my works will also have figurative elements (usually around childhood memories) as part of the landscape.

There is also something distinctly Australian about the landscape surrounding Eltham. The dry grasses, gum trees, shifting light and natives colours and smells all create a mood that I’ve noticed changes as the seasons move along throughout the year.

As an artist, I’m drawn to places that feel lived in and familiar I guess. It has taken me much practice for this to resonate with what I paint. Eltham seems to offer a balance between nature and community. This place feels closely connected by memory and landscape to me.

In my paintings I try to preserve the moments of atmosphere before they disappear. The quietness of a street, a child found in these landscapes with much curiosity of youthful days. The feeling of walking through a familiar place holds a powerful meaning in my work.

Montsalvat - Historical Artists Colony

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Julie Toffolo x