TALENTED local artist Phil Clements is sharing his passion for art with the community by creating detailed murals on the city’s vacant walls.
One of his recent projects has been to reinterpret a historic picture hanging in Mount Gambier’s South Aussie Hotel, using the pub’s outside wall as his canvas.
“The mural was created with acrylic and oil paint on masonry, and took me around six weeks to design,” he said.
“I decided to create the design to honour the pub’s history and the significant impact it has had on the city.”
Many future projects are in mind for Mr Clements including designing a wall at Jen’s Hotel and he is also eager to get involved with designing art at The Rail Lands.
His passion for art began when he was four years old, as he would accompany his grandfather in Sydney to art classes.
“My grandfather’s friends would ask my opinion as to what colours best suit their paintings, and we would all just sit around and paint,” Mr Clements said.
After high school Mr Clements studied architectural design in Sydney.
“I tried art school however, I found it was not for me so I decided to get into architecture,” he said.
Finishing his course, Mr Clements travelled around Australia with a few of his friends, and art continued to be a big part of his life at each destination he visited.
“I would enjoy taking different types of people out to paint, for example to a national park and just sit and create together,” he said.
Mr Clements said he appreciated creating designs for people to take pleasure in.
Thus, in an effort to support a friend he designed a piece of art at his business, displaying a dove entering through an open window.
“It is humorous as people think it is so realistic they at times mistakenly lean on the painted window ledge,” Mr Clements said.
The artist’s home is his personal gallery, with the walls of the rooms covered with magnificent creations.
These images are created with acrylic paint, and are further detailed with oil paints.
“I will usually have an idea in my head and then find an image to suit that idea,” Mr Clements said.
One of the images in his home is of the Plitvice National Park in Croatia.
“I loved the image and studied each detail, concentrating on the angles of the waterfall,” Mr Clements said.
His children’s rooms capture their imagination like his daughter’s fantasy themed wall, depicting a variety of fantasy creatures.
His son’s room is also vibrant, with images of dinosaurs complete with a colourful erupting volcano.
Mr Clements has won a string of awards including the Warringah Art Prize in 1990 and the Roseville Art Society Landscape Award in 1992.
He now has his sights set on entering the Wattle Range Art competition in October.
