Portland wildlife artist Brett Jarrett travels far and wide for his creative inspiration, including icy climes.
WILDLIFE painting has consumed the life of Portland artist Brett Jarrett.
Jarrett’s dedication to observing, documenting and identifying wildlife has taken him to the furthest corners of the world.
“I have travelled everywhere, in the last 20 years I have spent 10 of those travelling,” he said.
Jarrett’s latest exhibition Portraits of Sea is on display at the Lighthouse Theatre atrium.
It consists of highly-detailed paintings of albatrosses, penguins and other marine life.
Of his oil paintings, Jarrett said similar to a portrait artist, any animal painted in the realism genre deserved to be accurately portrayed.
“As an artist, know your subject and try your best to represent it as beautifully as nature does,” he said.
The well-travelled artist is one of Australia’s finest nature painters and his work has twice been accepted by the prestigious Society of Animal Artists annual exhibition and tour in the United States.
His work has involved travelling to remote destinations to observe the mammals and birds he finds so fascinating.
“When I go I take tens of thousands of photographs. You can not paint wildlife accurately from memory,” Jarrett said.
“A lot of people think wildlife painting is sitting in a field painting on a canvas, but all you’re doing is seeing something. It moves, then you rely on a memory, which is just a brief reminder of what you saw.”
Jarrett credits his artistic passion to his upbringing in a rugged coastal area.
“Since primary school I had a fascination for mammals and birdlife. Growing up on the south-west coast, it is rich in a diversity of wildlife.”
Jarrett will give a talk from 9pm today at the Lighthouse Theatre atrium.