About me.

When asked to describe the meaning of life in one sentence, Suzuki Roshi said this:
‘Life is like a beautiful ocean,
and our bodies are like sailboats,
and we go out sailing on the beautiful ocean,
and somewhere in the middle,
we sink.’

For me, the practice of painting has been a way of moving from the confining harbour of my established thoughts out into the open ocean of creative possibilities. My artistic journey has been a meandering exploration of the profound beauty I see in ordinary moments. Painting gives me a mechanism for communicating these experiences and at the same time sharpens my awareness of the now by allowing me to cultivate a contemplative state of mind.  Here are some paintings of the perceptions I had when I went sailing on the beautiful ocean.

David Isbester.

David currently lives and works at the River Bank Gallery in the main street of the small country town of Canowindra NSW Australia.

Born in Cowra in 1968. Studied with David B Wilson at Charles Sturt University- Bathurst. David has lived and worked in Canowindra NSW the past eight years. David is best known for capturing light and colour in his streetscapes, still life and studies of the female form. David is considered a tonalist painter  but he is also strongly influenced by a uniquely Australian mark making tradition.

‘I believe that art is a language that belongs to a culture and often shared by cultures. In the same way that English, for example, does not belong to any one speaker or writer. We all use it. Differently, yes. But it’s ours. However, when we read the work of a skilled writer, we often get a clear sense of the writers voice. They say things in unique ways, bringing emphasis to what they are wanting to say to us.’

‘Art is like this, but rather than comparing it with English,  compare it with, say,  literature, as this art form exists in all languages. Although the language is shared we can still see the distinctive voice of each artist come through in their work. Even when the meaning behind the work is universal. For an artist to communicate effectively they must firstly understand the visual culture of the people they intend communicating with. Then they must have something to say. Then they must say it with their own, authentic voice the best way they can.’

‘So why say anything? Pueblo Neruda described in his poem ‘The Poets Obligation’ (I see this as the Artists Obligation)- to remind the ordinary person in their prison, whether that prison be a job, grief, a relationship or what ever their circumstance… of the sound of the ocean. Perhaps this means to help them momentarily transcend the shackles of ordinary life. An escape, taste of freedom, a powerful reminder..there is something more?’.

The Poet’s Obligation

To whoever is not listening to the sea
this Friday morning, to whoever is cooped up
in house or office, factory or woman
or street or mine or harsh prison cell:
to him I come, and, without speaking or looking,
I arrive and open the door of his prison,
and a vibration starts up, vague and insistent,
a great fragment of thunder sets in motion
the rumble of the planet and the foam,
the raucous rivers of the ocean flood,
the star vibrates swiftly in its corona,
and the sea is beating, dying and continuing.

So, drawn on by my destiny,
I ceaselessly must listen to and keep
the sea’s lamenting in my awareness,
I must feel the crash of the hard water
and gather it up in a perpetual cup
so that, wherever those in prison may be,
wherever they suffer the autumn’s castigation,
I may be there with an errant wave,
I may move, passing through windows,
and hearing me, eyes will glance upward
saying, “How can I reach the sea?”
And I shall broadcast, saying nothing,
the starry echoes of the wave,
a breaking up of foam and of quicksand,
a rustling of salt withdrawing,
the grey cry of sea-birds on the coast.

So, through me, freedom and the sea
will make their answer to the shuttered heart.

~ Pablo Neruda ~

(translated by Alistair Reed, in On The Blue Shore of Silence)

‘This poem inspires me. It may help you understand where I am coming from with my work.’