nicholas nicola etchings

Australian Landscape & Coast

These are images done between 2006 and 2008 and show how I have developed an increasing interest in the Australian terrain.

fallen angel. shelley beach. cronulla.
well of life. cronulla
fallen angel. shelley beach. cronulla.
rockface.coledale.
misty bluffs.coledale.
coledale. early morning.
eagle rock. royal national park. N/A
curramoors. royal national park. N/A
angel rock. gordons bay.
rings of time. gordons bay.
emergence of life. gordons bay
cosmos. gordons bay. N/A
bronte. N/A

All M size except for bronte which is S.

small S medium M large L extra large XL not available N/A nic_nicola@hotmail.com

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘Fallen Angel.’

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. Shelley Beach. Cronulla. M

This image - along with the other two Cronulla etchings - are based on a series of sketches I did while walking around to Shelley beach.

‘Well of Life’

B&W 6”X4”. copperplate.Cronullla. M

I was attracted by this large dark hole in this rock formation that I came across on the way to Shelley Beach at Cronulla. Residing within it the sea water- that undulated around the contours of the rocks, shaping them. Movement; life within a still darkness.

‘Fallen Angel.’ Shelley beach. Cronulla,

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. M

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘Rockface.’

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. Coledale triptyvh. M

'Misty Bluffs.’

B&W. 6”4”. copperplate. Coledale triptych. M

‘Coledale.’ Early Morning.

6”X4”. copperplate.Coledale triptych M

Translucent immaterial, unseen light filtering over the texture of hard, dark form: this notion is what first came to my mind when I produced this image of this stretch of the Coledale cliff face at sunrise. The constant contrast of light and dark is a subconscious element which we are always aware of in our primal memory. I was staying, one weekend, long ago, at a friend-of-a-friend’s spacious light-filled house in Coledale; to wake up early one Sunday morning, and in the meditative silence did a series of sketches of the large protruding misty coal cliffs directly behind me. I have an ambition to capture the rather unique interplay that seems to exist to me between the spiritual and the earth (re: ‘earthiness’) that bears over the Australian terrain, especially in the bush. This work is one attempt towards this quest. A friend once commented to me that the light areas reminded her of Stonehenge and I could immediately recognise what she meant by this remark (and the connection that also exists between spirit and earth in this noble megalith structure with its monumental strutting lintel & pillar rings of weighty ‘cairns’). The Australian landscape – in particular this enormous length of rock - also as megalith. I very much like that. Coledale

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘Eagle Rock.’

B& W. 6” X 4”. copperplate. Royal National Park. Mt. Purgatory I. M N/A

I look at this cliff as an outcrop of Mt. Purgatory. Such is the way the mind wanders while resting during a long bushwalk. To also imagine that on top of this rock face may have once laid Prometheus; chained by Zeus for giving humanity the gift of fire. His liver was eaten away everyday by an eagle; finally the ‘fire-giver’ was rescued by Hercules. The hope of all the purgatorial: from unbearable endurance can come eternal release.

‘Curramoors.’

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. Royal National Park. Mt. Purgatory II. M N/A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘ Angel Rock.’

B&W. 6”X4” copperplate. Gordons Bay tryptich. M

This is a strange rock at Gordons Bay. It juts out of the rocks near the beach and has always fascinated me. I like going to Gordons Bay as it is a tranquil spot squeezed in amidst the more crowded areas of Sydney’s eastern suburbs coastline. There is always the space to be alone. A person can pretend they are many miles down the coast and for me – in my own offbeat way of thinking – often feel that this enclosed coastal spot is not only paradise but a microcosm of the whole universe. I have done many sketches here with this somewhat ‘cosmic’ attitude in mind. Thus it is appropriate to find an angel in this bay.

‘Rings of Time.’

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. Gordons Bay tryptich. M

‘Emergence of Life.’

B&W. 6”X4”. copperplate. Gordons Bay tryptich. M

‘Cosmos.’

B&W.6”X4”. copperplate Gordons Bay. M. N/A.

Within this rock one can view countless corpuscles of the universe.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

‘Bronte’

sepia. 2cm X 6 cm. copperplate. S. N/A

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________