Artist Profile: Wayne Malkin

FOR ARTIST AND GALLERIST WAYNE MALKIN, ART IS HIS WHOLE LIFE. ELIOT BOURNE WRITES.

Artist Wayne Malkin is never happier than when he’s painting. Based in Montville, a village nestled in the hinterland ranges behind the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, each day is bookended at the easel – with an early hour or two spent painting in the morning, and a few more finishing out the afternoon. About once a week, Wayne and his wife Tracey take a trip to the beach or rainforest, where the artist will spend the hours planning compositions, observing the surrounding colours, textures, light and effects. “This constant picture planning is sometimes hard to turn off!” says the artist. Back at the studio, Wayne will usually have around three paintings on the go, rotating each work as he builds layer upon layer of luscious oils. Larger works take at least six weeks from start to satisfaction.

When he’s not painting or planning to paint, you’ll usually find Wayne at the Montville Art Gallery, which he and Tracey own together. Housed in a gorgeous 100-year-old Queenslander, the gallery showcases work by a wide range of established and emerging talents. “The gallery has long tradition spanning back to 1974,” explains Wayne. “We are only the third owners.”

Primarily a landscape and seascape painter, Wayne maintains that sunlight, shadow, atmosphere and colour are his real subjects. “By painting these nuances in everyday scenes, I hope to show the viewer beauty they would otherwise not see,” says Wayne. “My aim is to evoke an emotional response in the viewer in the same way music and film does.”