About Wayne

Bio

Wayne Lyons is Ballina-based artist, having resided in Brisbane until recently. He was a senior partner in a Brisbane City accountancy firm and belies the old adage that accountancy and creativity are mutually exclusive.

Growing up in an artistic environment in the far North Queensland, Cairns, Wayne ( as he sees it now )was influenced by his mother, a renowned Cairns artist. His childhood was spent surrounded by the artistic influences of his mother and her contemporaries such as Noel Risley, Ray Crooke, Ted Creasy, amongst others. These early influences and the creative predisposition were tapped into only sporadically as Wayne developed his successful accountancy business. Over the last twenty years however, Wayne’s painting has occupied an increasing larger part of his life, and his distinctive style has developed exponentially. Now working exclusively with acrylics on canvas, and inspired by the glorious surrounds of New South Wales far North Coast, Wayne uses both bold colour and definition to capture his subjects of ocean, river, mountain, coast line. Music has also been a constant in Wayne’s life, so this too has served as inspiration in his imagery.

His works have been acquired by appreciative collectors, friends and clients of his practice in the greater Brisbane area. His mages are represented in office spaces and private homes through commissions or acquired through more recent Brisbane-based exhibitions.

Wayne’s colour palette is wide. His technique is bold and spontaneous, whilst being balanced with line and form to bring about his distinctive fresh style.

Artistic Statement

I am endlessly motivated by the unexpected effects when applying colour to the canvas. It is the ambiguity of emerging forms, the actual process of working with the serendipitous and the spontaneous that I most enjoy. Initially there is the unbound application of colour. This is a more subliminal act, an indirect response to music or my environment perhaps. There lies both my inspiration together with the challenge. It’s at this critical point that my need for balance and form becomes the focus.

Using the vibrant abstract surface as a backdrop, I identify areas where I can paint the more figurative elements, often disparate images that give a surreal narrative. I use line to give form and balance, paring back the abstract to give substance, definition and texture.

My Landscapes embody a dream-like view of my environment, inspired by flying at low altitudes over my surrounding coastline and hinterland. I forego the discipline of shadows and structure yet I work to ensure there is rhythm, vibrant colour and a hint of perspective in the final image.

I want the viewer to navigate their own way through my paintings, and enjoy the ambiguity and the unexpected, in the same way I do during the process of creating my images.