Australian Artist Michael Black chats to Tove Langridge from TWFINEART About His Landscape Paintings

Q) Great to see you in the studio and get to chat a bit about your paintings and practice. Can you describe a little about your interest in the landscape, what is it about the environment that compels you? Tove Langridge

A) Being outside is always better than in for me—I’ve always loved hiking, bushwalking, and just being in nature. It’s where I feel most alive, most open. There’s something about the unpredictability of the environment—how one path leads to another, how each walk opens up a new experience you’ve never had before. That sense of discovery really excites me, and I find it naturally feeds into my work.

The landscape is always the most compelling subject matter for me to paint. It’s more than just scenery—it’s layered with memory, change, and emotion. I’m especially drawn to how themes of new creation weave into these natural spaces. When I’m painting outdoors, I often feel like I’m stepping into something bigger—capturing not just the physical space, but a sense of hope or renewal within it. My work ends up being a mix of observation and imagination, grounded in the real world but open to spiritual reflection. Michael Black

Q)You often take your practice out of the studio and into plain air. How does your studio practice interact with the process of working outside? How do the paintings come together? Tove Langridge

A) A lot of my work starts with a walk—usually somewhere immersed in the bush. I take my sketchbook with me and just let the environment speak. It could be a tree, a colour combination, or the way a path curves through the land—whatever catches my eye. I try not to overthink it. I just let my hand move on the page, responding to whatever shows up.

Those quick studies and sketches become the backbone of what happens in the studio. Back inside, I use them as a jumping-off point—not something to copy exactly, but something to guide the energy of the painting. I work with oil, acrylic, and oil sticks, usually pretty fast and intuitively. Most pieces come together within a few days, then I sit with them in the studio—sometimes deciding to keep pushing or even paint over them. It’s very much a back-and-forth process, shaped by both spontaneity and reflection. Michael Black

What is it that you seek from your work? Is there something you’re investigating or trying to capture? Tove Langridge

There’s something powerful about looking at the natural world—not just for what it is now, but for what it’s pointing toward. I’m interested in how the landscape can carry symbolic weight, reflecting hope, renewal, and the tension between what is and what’s yet to come. By combining observational drawing with these bigger themes, I’m trying to create work that sits in both the seen and the unseen—anchored in real places, but open to deeper personal reflections. Michael Black

For information on Michael’s work, or to see a range of artworks that are available to purchase, contact Tove Langridge of TWFINEART.