Artists

James Ainslie has painted professionally for over 50 years and during this time he has had more than 40 solo and countless group exhibitions both in Australia and overseas.

Ainslie’s preferred palette is acrylic paint on paper, with the occasional use of mixed media. His forte is modern realism, although he also produces abstract art. Ainslie’s paintings resonate with an inherent passion for the country’s unique beauty, particularly the sandy dunes and reflective waters of Queensland and South Australia.

Sand and water have always inspired his work, harking back to a childhood in South Australia, spent playing around the Coorong and exploring the huge sand tracts around the Murray River. Now living in Noosa, he has turned his attention to the undulating dunes of K'gari and the many beaches along the Sunshine Coast shoreline. Annual visits to Broome ensure that Kakadu and The Kimberley remain strong influences.

“As an artist my paintings are often a direct result of a location. It is the colours, textures,light, smells, sounds and presence, in fact the essence of a place that inspires my images. I have always been eclectic in my sources of inspiration and the paintings often start as realistic interpretations and later develop into more abstract and conceptual statements as I immerse myself in the milieu of the initial inspiration.”