By Callum Ludwig
Woori Yallock resident Jerry Osadczuk is the man behind the latest exhibition in the gallery at the Warburton Waterwheel, which will run until 30 July.
‘Happiness’ opened on Friday 24 June and features a variety of Mr Osadczuk’s brightest paintings.
Mr Osadczuk said he hopes everyone who comes to look at the exhibition leaves in a better mood than when they came.
“With the cold weather setting in, we don’t have as many opportunities to cheer up and to get out and enjoy something,” he said.
“Most of the paintings are pretty bright, with a few darker ones to offset but still with a lot of colour. It is about a third of my total paintings, my brightest body of work.”
Mr Osadczuk has been painting in the Yarra Ranges since 200, using a variety of mediums including oils, acrylics, ink, shellac and powdered ochres for the seven solo exhibitions he has held and many group exhibitions he has been a part of.
Mr Osadczuk said he has changed his style a bit, and the exhibition is a mixture of a couple of things.
“I used to do more landscape paintings, but I’ve gotten more contemporary and even gotten into the abstract area a bit as well. I like to chop and change. I go in and out of one style to the other style depending on the size of the canvas and what materials I’m using,” he said.
“I enjoy a combination of them all in a lot of my paintings, if you didn’t see a horizon you might think it was an abstract piece and vice versa.”
Mr Osadczuk’s work has seen him twice nominated as a finalist for the Cliftons Art Prize, which is awarded for the best works of painting, drawing or photography created by artists in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong.
Mr Osadczuk is endeavouring to be at the gallery for a few hours every Saturday while the exhibition is on show, and is happy to talk about and answer questions from visitors.
He also insists that if anyone wants to buy a painting and take it home they can do so straightaway and don’t have to wait until the exhibition is over.
The Warburton Waterwheel Gallery is open from 10am to 4pm everyday.
