About the Artist

Amanda McLean is described by "Australian Artist" magazine as “One of the country's leading pastellists” ... “One of Australia’s top landscape Artists’ and “an absolute expert” on painting water. Her work is collected both nationally and internationally.

 

Amanda’s work is traditional in style and although she works in various mediums it is in her use and knowledge of pastel where she has made her mark. Throughout her career she has done much to raise the profile of the pastel medium.

 

Amanda lives in South Eastern Australia in the rural village of Murrumbateman just outside the Australian Capital Territory with her husband and 2 children. She juggles her painting,  teaching & writing with the demands of her family.

 

Highly respected for her knowledge of the pastel medium she is keenly sought by national and international publications and by pastel manufacturers and retailers alike. Amanda has developed pastel colours reflecting the Australian landscape that Australian company Art Spectrum have produced for the world market. She is often called upon to "road test" new materials and those still under development as well as demonstrate their use. A popular and sought after tutor, Amanda has over a number of years, conducted many workshops and courses.

 

In 1997 she accepted an invitation to become an Editorial Consultant to Australian Artist Magazine.  She produced a very successful series of articles on Pastel and continues to write for them from time to time. Amanda’s work has also been featured in several International Art publications.

 

Amanda is a member of the ‘Australian Guild of Realist Artists’ & ‘Landscape Artists International’ & the ‘Pastel Society of Australia’. Currently her work can be seen at Aarwun Galleries, Canberra; Anthony Rose Gallery, Yass, NSW; The Dural Galleries, Sydney & Collectors Choice Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Art washes from the soul the dust of  everyday life’.

 

 - Picasso

All images © Amanda McLean

About the Artist

Artists Statement

I find painting emotionally and intellectually satisfying and it is a driving force in my life. My world is firmly entrenched in my rural surrounds & encompasses deep-seated feelings for the land and my place in it. From my childhood spent in the ‘country’ exploring the landscape, to my life now, in rural Murrumbateman (just outside the Australian Capital Territory) my close connection to the landscape is obvious in my work. I feel & see, in the landscape, the changes in light, mood, colour and texture with the changing of the seasons.

 

 I love the immediacy of pastel; it allows me, through its hands on application a direct physical connection to my work not possible on the other end of a paintbrush. I lay down a tapestry of sometimes-surprising colours to create images full of reflected light and colour that I hope transport the viewer to a quieter place. Through my work I hope to stir some emotional response, memory or feeling that cannot be expressed in words.