Magic of art is its individuality

STARTING AGAIN: Gladstone artist Andrew Olsen in his studio with a new canvas being started.WTA060614LFANDREW01

"If it has the secret recipe - the 11 herbs and spices, then you gotta keep it."

This is the mantra Sydney-turned-Gladstone artist Andrew Olsen lives by when creating his works of art.

Olsen graduated from the prestigious College of Fine Arts in Sydney, where he started off painting by numbers in an attempt to "conform and be successful".

Later he discovered this wasn't the way to get noticed and changed his approach.

"You don't want to paint exactly like someone has before you.

"You will get overlooked."

Olsen has experimented with a range of styles in his 30 years as an artist but has now settled on a "magic realism" style using coastal, urban and rural images which are influenced by the Gladstone landscape.

"I think painting should first and foremost be interesting to look at. That's the realism bit. Underneath that people can make connections between the images and the different layers of often ambiguous painting marks. That's the 'magic' bit.

"You want people to look at a piece and think 'how has he done that'."

Olsen says he never paints with a clear objective in mind of what the final piece will look like, which he says keeps the process fresh and interesting.

"You never want your work to be homogenised and looking like all your others.

"There is a lot of accident in my work and plenty don't make it. I don't start with a completely pre-conceived idea and get stuck on that. An image can change a lot and often get better as accidents occur."

Olsen says he finds his work "always frustrating" and admits to destroying some of his art in the past by means of both fire and sharp objects.

He now has a second eye for his work, with wife Justine giving him advice that he finds invaluable.

"Justine takes five minutes to decide whether a piece is good enough and she will tell me if it's s**t.

"Artists think they know everything, but you know the least about your own work if you're the only one looking at it."

His piece called Snatch features the elements of Olsen's work that he strives for - a mixture of realism and "magical" elements that make the viewer look critically at an artwork.

Sydney is still where Olsen's work ends up - mainly featured in an exhibition at the Butcher's Hook Gallery in Paddington in Sydney's art precinct.

He hasn't really looked to sell any of his work here, although he says that may change in the near future.

Go to the website www.butchershook.net.au/ to view Olsen's exhibitions.