Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Ben Lucas, I live with my wife and grown up sons (when they are home) on the coast in Noosa. I’m an artist who paints the seas and skies that I see around me.
 

Why do you do what you do?
I once did an online questionnaire to evaluate what my motivations were. The results suggested that I am motivated and inspired by beauty in nature and the arts, which I think is very true. I’m aware that the concept of beauty is very subjective but at the moment I’m totally swept up in the colours and light of the ocean and the sky which seems to me to be an inexhaustible subject and one that brings me great joy.

What’s your background?
My creative background began at a very early age, my mother was telling me recently about how as a young child I would draw for hours, in particular she remembers seeing me draw with one quick continuous unbroken line a pair of fighting cockerels in combat. I trained in design and then worked with clay as a studio potter. After moving to New Zealand I was inspired by the beautiful skies over the Southern Alps to paint again. Initially I worked with water colours as the medium helped me to capture the translucency that I was fascinated by. On moving to Australia I began to paint in oils as I wanted to be able to scale up the paintings. Part of my journey in using oils has been to work with a sense of freedom and achieve the luminous translucent sense of light that I had with the watercolours. 

How do you work?
I paint on a flat surface and use various flat tools to initially draft in the sense of light and dark then I transition to brushes in the later stages. I try to approach the canvas without too much of a preconceived idea of the final image and then work quickly and intuitively as I am looking for a sense of immediacy and a vibrancy that can sometimes be lost if the painting is overworked. It’s hard to describe but when a painting is going well I have response to it which is quite deep and not on a cognitive level and this is something that I try to tune into as I work.

What’s your work-day like?
There is no set pattern, the morning normally starts with a walk or a surf depending on the conditions. If it’s a painting day I like to start with a whole clear day ahead without much threat of interruption. I find that it helps to have breaks in the painting cycle, to walk away as it helps to see the painting afresh on returning to it. This is also true in the longer sense as I tend to have cycles of intense painting followed by breaks as I find that on returning it’s often that new things can emerge.

Describe the space where you create?
I paint in natural light under a large south facing deck so the light is fantastic, I am surrounded by mature trees and birdsong so its a lovely space.

How has your practice changed over time?
The main change is my palette has expanded from a very minimal palette based around Prussian blue and translucent whites to what is now a broad range of colours - I am particularly taken with a dark indigo at the moment.

How have you developed your career?
I am naturally quite a reserved person so I think I have relied upon the paintings doing the talking which has meant that my art career has developed in a very organic way, but when I look back I can see how it has all linked together to lead me to where I am at the moment. I Have been fortunate to have had the support of some great galleries and had the opportunity to be involved I several group and solo shows and I have enjoyed some success in art awards being recipient of the Alan Reading Memorial Art Prize for contemporary painting and been a finalist in several art prizes.

What’s the best thing about being an artist?
For me the best thing is that I’m convinced it’s what I am meant to be doing. Which doesn’t mean it’s always easy but it can be incredibly satisfying and fulfilling when it goes well.

What themes does your art pursue?
My art is inspired by the natural world but it also carries an emotional quality that transcends this. One of the most amazing experiences as an artist is to se the effect that your paintings can have on people, how emotions and memories can be stirred in the viewer. It’s also wonderful thing to hear as an artist how a painting can bring someone a sense of happiness or peace.

Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
Years ago before I had started painting was once walking home and I noticed a large rectangle of marine ply leaning against a wall, as I looked at I had a revelation that I needed to take it home and paint on it. I decided to leave it to fate and so I said to myself that if it was still there the next day I would grab it. It was there and I suppose that was the start of something.

What’s your most embarrassing moment?
There’s been a few, thankfully I must have successfully erased them though because no one thing comes to mind.

What’s a happy memory from your childhood?
My happiest childhood memories are of our local beach in the summertime - swimming and playing in the water and then lying on the sun warmed rocks.

What’s your favourite art work?
I don’t have one favourite artwork, but my favourite art experience is the Rothko room at the Tate Gallery in London. I remember being struck silent by the beauty and Power of the paintings as a teenager and I think the experience was a foundational one in my artistic journey.

What jobs have you done other than being an artist?
All sorts, but the main one was as a studio potter making hand thrown earthenware alongside my wife at our pottery/gallery on the Cornish coast. I have also worked as a graphic designer/creative director and small stint as a journalist.

Name something you love, and why.
We have a small porcelain bowl made by the famous ceramicist Dame Lucie Rie, which belonged to my Grandfather Colin Lucas. It’s very simple and beautiful and has a quiet serenity about it.

Favourite or most inspirational place?
It would be a clifftop somewhere over the coast with the expanse of the sky reflecting over the ocean like a vast mirror below me.

What’s your musical playlist while practicing art? Which tunes inspire you?
I love old gospel music, like the Swan Silvertones and the Staple Singers it has such a joyful sound that I like to think it somehow seeps into the paintings. I also have a nostalgic love of 90s hip hop and house music.

What is your preferred medium to work with?
Oil on canvas or linen - I like to have a bit of ‘tooth’ on the surface to help grip the paint.

Which artists do you collect?
I have some paintings by the late Peter Rush who painted wonderful expressive vigorous landscapes - he was quite an inspiration for me.

What is the Sydney Road Gallery Experience for you?
It’s a new experience for me but an exciting one, I see the gallery as a place where I can learn and grow and be encouraged and stretched to be a more rounded and better at all the skills one needs to have to be an artist these days.