Observing the World through Paint

Nekos painting me at the Nerdrum School in Starven, Norway.

©SéraphineJacobs

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ABOUT F. BODKIN

Painter

Painting the stream of l'Hérault in Southern France

Hi, I'm an Artist from New Zealand who paints dominantly from life. I find that working from life allows me to delve deeper into my subject and observe intrinsically how I feel about the surrounding world. This ensures the human voice sings loudly in the visual language of painting. In a world full of restlessness I hope my paintings bring a breath of fresh air to the everyday.

Learn More

John F. Carlson

“Too much reality in a picture is always a disappointment to the imaginative soul. We love suggestion and not hard fact.”

Odd Nerdrum

"We don't paint what we see, we paint what we remember."

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

A collection of new and previous work. If you are after any of the available work don't hesitate to contact me.

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

Painting the seine in Paris.

Paris, Bastille, Sold "9 by 12"	Mount Cosmos, $3200 "30 by 25'	State Highway 6, sold "9 by 12"	Dreamscape no.1, $600 "14 by 16" Framed	Tory St, sold
Dreamscape no.2, $900 "16 by 20"	Lambton Quay, Sold	Dreamscape no.3, $600 "9 by 12"	Dreamscape 5, $700 "9 by 12"	Island Bay Rock Pool, $600 "15 by 9"
Ah Gum Valley Track, Sold	Gertrude Valley, $900 "16 by 20"	Summer Night City, $600 "12 by 12"	Tukituki River, $900 "15 by 12"	Hawkes Bay Sketch, $100 "6 by 6"
Island Bay Surf, $300

Hi all,
I'm excited to finally share with you all my new Website.
For a long time I've been neglecting the whole art buisness side of things, but eventually the paintings start to pile up and need new homes. Creating this website feels like an important step in sharing my work more widely, and it's a platform I'll continue to update with new paintings and projects further down the line.
Many of the works I have listed for sale explore themes of solitude, stillness, and quiet reflection.
If you'd like to have a look, you can visit the website here in my bio.

Appriciate all who have been following this wild ride.

Over the Autumn season as the angle of the sun changes so do the colours. Its fascinating paying close attention to how the intensty of the chroma increases . In these 3 on site paintings I was paying close attention to how the vaue shifts change as they wrap around the tree. didn't quite get it but one closer step in the right direction.

#painteveryday #sketchendeavour #plein_air #NewZealandArtist

This and other paintings will soon be available later this week! I’m super excited to share with you my website I have been working on. It’s still early days but it feels good having another platform dedicated to selling the work.

#bastille #paris #cityscape #painteveryday

Self portrait at 27

I think the hardest thing about painting is trying to take a photo of the painting after (Slight exaggeration). The process of a Self portrait is an interesting one where you have to look abstractly upon yourself. There were many highs and lows painting this but overall happy with how it turned out. Looking forward to the next one.

Robert Guyton, an extrodanary man who has spent over 36 years cultivating a dense forest garden. Within it exists endless varieties of apples, mesmeric volcanic coloured flowers, any plant you could dream of is in the ever expanding void of green. Roberts’ strategy for creating such a garden was to simply co-exist alongside nature. For such a beautiful outcome, perhaps this is a telling lesson for how we should consider living in the near future.

This painting definitely felt like a turning point and I definitely learnt a lot from painting it. Makes me excited for what’s to come.

#painteveryday #forestgarden

Here is another plein air form Paris. I visited the Tuileries many times during my stay there and I don’t think I would ever get sick of painting that garden. It’s amazing how repeatedly painting the same place can really expand your relationship that you have with it. Can’t wait to get back there and paint some more of it.

#plein_air_life #painteveryday #tuileries #parisian

I think this was the first seascape where it felt like I was really getting somewhere. Been through about 10ish panels/attempts to actually get some kind of good effacer down on the canvas. The seascapes are piling up so I’ll have to exhibit them in Wellington at some stage.

#seascapepainting #plein_air_life #painteveryday

There’s something fascinating about try to capture a single moment in the seas endless cycles. The more I paint the ocean the more I can start to see. Unfortunately the hot spot of plein air has been affected by wellingtons sewage spill. Might be a prompt to find a new location.

#wellingtonnz #plein_air_life #painteveryday #wellingtonwaterfront

First major painting since returning to New Zealand. Slope point is the most southern part of the South Island. It was so windy jeffery the dog would have preferred to have stayed in the car then go on a walk.

#southislandnz #slopepoint #painteveryday #oceanpainting #plein_air_life

I have recently been trying to take more liberty with my landscapes. Trying to search or replicate something more dream like then just a translation of reality. This one has no place in mind.

Available for purchase.
6 by 8 inches

#painteveryday #imagination #pleinairpainter #boldbrush

Various paintings and sketches/ works in progress over the last couple weeks. Feel like I’m in a clicked period where things are flowing and I’m seeing a lot more. Hello ween costume: A bush with a gnome in it.

À plein air from a while ago. Last week in Paris and it’s finally settling in that I won’t be back for a while. Definitely gonna miss this place. Motherland here we come 😀🙏

Been a pretty insane year since living in Paris. Feel like I have been unlocking a lot In my painting. The past 6 months especially. Not too long before I go and join a painting cult in Norway. I think when I first approached painting I had the idea that I was gonna paint something life changing to look at. It was a very superficial and I reckon just using painting to simply journey through life has been a much better way to treat it. See you on the flip side Europe when I return from nz 🐥

#hashtagsdontworkanymoreanyway

Im super excited for my show with galerie Schneider this Tuesday at 7pm. I was painting on the street a couple of weeks back and I had a dude approach me on the street and he told me to visit him at his gallery. The next day I went in and I got offered the space but it had to be filled within 10 days. So here we are, the pieces are a collection of plein air over the past 2 months cycling around Paris. There’s a few studio pieces as well. So come and check it out !

Original pic by @k.street.photographer

Sunsets are tricky, got about 15 minutes to get it all down. Have to focus on the bigger picture and mainly what the local colour was for each value mass. But a lot of fun if if you get it down in time😎

See you at 11 rue des belles feuille
Galerie Schneider
13th of may. 7-10pm

Last months work of plein air. Have had an absolute blast running around Paris on my bike choosing places to paint. The collection is growing rapidly and it’s probably about time I get selling these works. I’m on the go to making a website and making these available for purchase. The hood thing thing about smaller works is that usually the price is low and and can be easily sent in the post. So if you are interested in any of the work shown here just let me know 😎.

#painteveryday #pleinairparis #enpleinair #oilpainting #paintingart #contemporaryrealism

Sending off this commission ☺️ Tuscan dreams. I wanted to try and paint a feeling of deep rest. Stoked with how this came out and had a lot of fun creating an illumination behind the trees. #landscapeart #oilpaintingoncanvas #pleinair #painteveryday #paint #tuscany

Something a bit different, haven’t painted bush interior for a long time. Always find there’s a lot of different ways to use your brush for this subject.

#painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife

Loving the French life at the moment. Sad it’s coming to and end in a few months time. I’ll be returning but not for a year. Until then I’ll be painting non stop. Me wesh @chenrooon @amaulartist @mwfres
#painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife

Enjoyed painting the atmospheric hills in the far distance in Ganges I find that these over cast days are really muting everything and softening a lot of the colour and edges.

#painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife

Spent a wonderful time painting with @amaulartist and @chenrooon last March. Ended up loving the result. I think trying to find the right shade of purple in the pillar cast shadows made this one really pop.

#painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife #parisians

Had a lot of fun trying to capture the hot light during the sunset by @museelouvre. I definitely have the tick for plein airs recently. The spring weather is absolutely delightful in Paris. Making the most of it since my visa will run out in a few months and will have to return to nz. #painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife

Cheesy french canal painting. It was interesting painting on a bridge that swayed every time someone walked over it. #parisseine #painteveryday #enpleinair #parispainter
#artistinparis #paintfromlife #paintingislife

Gotta admit, @kentverbeet was a pretty solid model as long as you put a sumo wrestling tournament on in the background 😂

#sumo #sketcheveryday #portraitfromlife #portraitsketch #sketchendeavour #drawingfromlife #sumoforlife

Painted this tree with @amaulartist and @chenrooon. #pleinairpainting #painteveryday #paríspleinair #newzealandartist #treepainting #landscapeartist

Soft and fuzzy attempt on a Velazquez study of a dwarf. Moleskin is great to draw on but I find it so sensitive and tricky to put a convincing amount of contrast in. #sketchdaily #sketchendeavour #velazquez #portraitsketch

Sketch dump,

Currently stuck in Paris as a tourist. Not a bad place to be stuck painting all day in. Cheeky cafe exhibition coming in a month. Gonna try and post more frequently here. Also, reach out if anything interests you. #sketchdaily #sketchdump #parisartist #painteveryday

Haven’t posted in a while but here’s a bargue from a while back. Looking forward to my 2nd year here in Paris. I’m ecstatic to say that I’ll be painting with odd nerdrum later this year in Norway for a couple months. Swipe to see 4 years of drawing progress. Now let’s try to improve my French a bit 😂 #drawings #sketcheveryday #sketchendeavour #sketchbook

Sad to leave this unfinished painting in the south of france but I can't holiday forever. I think I really enjoyed painting all the different elements and trying to figure how to piece it all together colour wise. Although this is painted from 3 different photos photoshopped together majority of it is painted with no reference. Sad to say good bye to my fellow friends who distracted me with there constant demand for pears and apples.

#landscape #newzealandartist #suisse #mountains #oilpainting #artwork #artistsoninstagram #artoftheday #artdaily #myart #realism

Painted earlier this year in Ganges. Really enjoyed painting the grass in this one. #oilpainting #plein_air_life #pleinairartist #pleinairpainter #sketchdaily #paintfromlife #frenchcountry #lesuddelafrance #ganges #autumn

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Observing the World through Paint

ABOUT F. BODKIN

John F. Carlson

Odd Nerdrum

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

Paris, Bastille, Sold

"9 by 12"

Mount Cosmos, $3200

"30 by 25'

State Highway 6, sold

"9 by 12"

Dreamscape no.1, $600

"14 by 16" Framed

Tory St, sold

Dreamscape no.2, $900

"16 by 20"

Lambton Quay, Sold

Dreamscape no.3, $600

"9 by 12"

Dreamscape 5, $700

"9 by 12"

Island Bay Rock Pool, $600

"15 by 9"

Ah Gum Valley Track, Sold

Gertrude Valley, $900

"16 by 20"

Summer Night City, $600

"12 by 12"

Tukituki River, $900

"15 by 12"

Hawkes Bay Sketch, $100

"6 by 6"

Island Bay Surf, $300

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