A real pleasure, and a privilege of sitting (for a portrait) was to be in his studio surrounded by his painting of nature; his ‘circle’ of light that changed and fluctuated, expanded and contracted like breath in the subtle changes of colour and form each time I was there. While sitting still as a subject, I could meditate on the wonderful, almost abstracted colours and flow of the paint. The layers, the work, in any painting is such a mystery when a viewer sees only the finished product
Zofrea’s work of ‘Day Cycle’ is part of a series to capture, celebrate and communicate life; Morning, Noon and Night. He has used his garden, the natural world, and the landscape just outside the walls to bring the wonder of the world into temporal, aesthetically divine form. Sitting there, I was reminded of WB Yates’ poem;
The Cloths of Heaven
Had I the heaven’s embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light;
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Excerpt from essay by Kathleen Von Witt.
Gallery & Museum director, Hawkesbury City Council
Image: Salvatore Zofrea. Photograph (detail) courtesy of Stephen Oxenbury and Orange Regional Gallery Salvatore Zofrea: The Drawn Line, opening at …
Image: Christine Wrest-Smith, Portrait of Salvatore Zofrea. Congratulations to Christine Wrest-Smith who has been announced a Finalist in the Percival Portrait Painting …
Above image: Indian Sketchbook 1 water colour and gouache 70 cm x 30 cm Dr. Maryanne Coutts will share her …