Michael Bateman

Who Am I?
I am a painter. I am also a lawyer. My practices as an artist and a lawyer each
require the juggling of time, so necessarily, I paint outside of business hours.
This is not a tension that I alone experience.
I am a founding member of the Seven Painters- a Group that has been together
for now, 18 years painting together in various locations, mostly each Tuesday
night, and exhibiting our works, on average, yearly. Several of our members
have their own individual or other shows as well.
I am an amateur Art Historian and delight in the galaxy of local artists’ works.

Influences
I greatly admire the works of the late Jeffrey Smart, Ben McLaughlin, Ric
Amor, Edward Hopper, Warwick Fuller and the Masters such as J M W Turner,
Edouard Manet and Lloyd Rees.
I have an affinity for architecture and figures in an architectural landscape.

Artistic Perspective
I value our lived environment and wish to depict it, to the best of my ability, in
a way that reflects its particular beauty; ideally in a way that is not predictable,
but unique.
I feel Newcastle and the Hunter is an area that constantly surprises with its
beauty and drama. The beaches, Nobbys, the working Harbour, the river and the
Victorian cityscape has long been celebrated by artists. In some ways, the city
is a Southern Bordeaux. Its people are also worthy of note- it is not often that
you can encounter a wetsuit clad surfer dripping water and carrying a surfboard
in city streets, unremarked walking alongside suited office workers.
I am concerned to record my impressions of the disappearing aspects of our city
and rural areas.

Practicalities
Because of the constraints of our “day jobs”, my colleagues in our Group and I
paint outside work day hours, usually on Tuesday nights and at weekends.
I sketch en plein air with watercolour or pencil and paint studio works in
acrylic. I find acrylic painting fits with my time frames and is a technique that
rewards exploration.

The Group is a great part of my art practice. We criticise each other’s works and
fire off each other in new approaches and techniques.