Ross Cochrane

Artist’s Statement  The landscapes I paint are often the landscapes of a person’s face. I love the beauty of old faces especially, with hard-won life-lines etched in wrinkles or caught in the stories that have shaped their unique personalities.  I have a longing to create. It arises from my realisation that God is the Creator and I am made in His image. 

There is a creative side to my personality that must be expressed. It is the creative part of me that dances with each stroke of the brush and sings with each colour that is applied, that is surprised by the process of creation and gets lost in time and space. I get caught up with seeing the beauty and complexity of a face and the accompanying colours, textures and tones I see around me.   

My art is a quest, not just to replicate the world around me but to express its character. So I am not surprised when the character of the person I am painting shows up in my work. It is an unconscious transference and it is welcomed.  I am a Baptist Chaplain (Diplomas in Ministry and Theology) and an Australian Artist (Diploma in Fine Arts). 

My Mother was an Artist and Art Teacher, and I followed in her footsteps for a time, training in Fine Arts for 4 years and teaching Art for 4 years in O’Connor Catholic High School in Armidale, NSW, before becoming a Baptist Minister. This is my 9th full-time year as the Chaplain (see my CV for other information).