James Boissett Australian Watercolour Artist

Please select a gallery from below.

City/Urban »

With a constant stream of humanity, people in a cityscape add a suggestion of purpose to the buildings. Crowds of city workers provide meaning to a canvas of city life, frenetic abstracted forms and shapes guided and channelled by streets and towering buildings. Unlike a nocturne where the buildings own the space, a daytime cityscape usually shows its purpose determined by the pulse and rhythm of people and cars etc in a constantly changing scene. View City/Urban gallery »

Maritime/Sydney Harbour Foreshores/Beaches »

I never tire of painting water scenes having lived around Sydney Harbour and the waterways of the New South Wales Cental Coast for half of my life. Living close to surfing beaches and constantly painting on site at Sydney Harbour beaches, I am drawn to the ever changing dynamic of aquatic scenes. The painting medium of watercolour showcases water and marine subjects brilliantly. With deep blues and greens, the heat and light radiated and reflected from majestic white beaches, all punctuated with bathers, sunbakers, boats and watercraft. Rainbow coloured beach huts and umbrellas are each a stroke of the Watercolour Artist's brush. Aquatic spectaculars of hi - tech yachts and their crews jostling for positions in a race with full spinnakers as sailing clubs test their skills. Contrast this with quiet secluded rocky and sandy harbour foreshores. Idyll boats sway in the breeze on the ebb and flow of the tide. Of great interest are the great ocean beaches of Sydney, along with the icons of The Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and its harbour ferries. View Maritime gallery »

Landscapes »

An adventure of discovery, the rich tapestry and colour of the Australian landscape inspires me. With its rugged beauty, I am always inspired by the unfolding landscape peppered with its towns and communities. Country New South Wales and its rustic appeal have always interested me. I frequently travel to the Western Districts, scouring the countryside for subjects and am never disappointed by its charm and the simplicity or the rhythm of the changing seasons with rolling patchworks of pastures and farms. Meandering rivers with elegant poplars in hues of orange and gold complimenting the deep snow fed tranquil blue waters leading the eye to distant old goldfields of Victoria. Mighty rivers such as the Nepean and Shoalhaven are a joy to paint as they carve through the landscape with a quiet and purposeful strength. Over centuries their banks and shape have evolved into what we see today. Whether I am doing a watercolour painting of the last rays of the sun hitting a jagged escarpment of rock in the magical Capertee Valley, or the gentle flow of a river winding slowly along a hidden valley floor, I love to paint these scenes for others to enjoy. View Landscapes gallery »

Nocturnes »

I am always inspired by the city at night and the play of light and darkness. Night scenes really capture the mood, architecture and character of buildings. They portray the obvious and partially hidden aspects of forms. Watercolour is a wonderful medium for painting light. Buildings take on a new life in the evening as illuminated stone surfaces acquire a brilliant glow. Spontaneous, inspirational and dramatic, a scene is discovered as I tour the city looking for subjects for a watercolour painting. Whilst doing so, I am constantly reminded of a statement by Vincent Van Gogh - "The night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day." View Nocturnes gallery »

France - Painted en Plein Air »

In 2009 I painted for a month in France, on the west coast and Bay of Biscay using the ancient port city of La Rochelle and island of ile de Re' as bases for daily painting adventures whilst opening an exhibition of my Australian paintings in the city of La Roche-Sur-Yon. This painting trip opened up a new world of inspiration and light to explore. The amazing and prolonged light of the region allowed me to paint en plein air into the evening. The ancient textures in the old sea ports, and Romanesque Architecture blending gracefully with modern vibrant France. Paris was to say the least, stunning. Numerous examples of the influence of people on the landscape will draw me back to those ancient and historic settings for further study and artistic exploration. View France - Painted en Plein Air gallery »

Equine Art »

It is always a pleasure to showcase this noble animal - whether trackside capturing the excitement of a photo finish or in a "jump off" at the local show jumping event. The horse is a unique and dynamic creature, each with its own personality. Artistically, I enjoy the ever-changing form and shape of this subject. Its power and grace, the colour, excitement and energy portrayed in a watercolour painting. View Equine Art gallery »