John McCartin Fine Art Gallery: Lisa McAskill enjoys the collection in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia
Step inside the John McCartin Fine Art Gallery in the main street of Hahndorf and one of the first paintings to greet you in the front room studio says a lot about this man's artistic journey. The vast Sydney skyline, painted from a hospital roof, seems as far away as one can get from the peace and quiet of the Adelaide Hills. v "It's near where lived in Chester Hill as a young boy before going to Bathurst," said John. "I was drafted into the public service at the age of 21."
The painting of the Sydney skyline showcases John McCartin's undoubted skill with the brush but is also a daily reminder of why he left the 9-5 drudgery of life as a New South Wales Public Servant.
Armed with a redundancy payout, John and his wife Sue hit the road to clear the head and rethink life's priorities. It was on a Sunday drive through the Adelaide Hills that John stumbled across scenes like the ones that captivated one of his boyhood idols, Hans Heysen.
The hills worked their magic and John McCartin was hooked. Adelaide Hills gum trees offering shade for wandering sheep, dairy cows out grazing in the soft early morning light - they are all scenes from the Hahndorf district that John is compelled to capture on canvas.
And they're works that Sir Hans would no doubt have appreciated - as John continues his quest to capture that special magic of the Australian gum. With the canvasses piling up, John's next assignment was to find a gallery. He settled on one in the main street of Hahndorf.
A life drawing class two years ago unleashed a new creative spark for John. As a result, he's now locked in a battle with brush, paint and canvas as he strives to capture the essence of well-known hill's identity, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.
It's with this work that John hopes to win Australia's most coveted portraiture award, the Archibald Prize.
The John McCartin Fine Art Gallery is opposite the German Arms Hotel at 82 Main Street Hahndorf. It's open daily.
John McCartin Fine Art Gallery
82 Main Street
HahndorfPublished 9th September 2007
