Motive for painting as plein as day

The walls of the Marlborough gallery each held a hundred little windows, the odour of oils and canvas faded as the imagery transported the scent of New Zealand’s back country to the room.

White capped mountains and braided rivers transformed to more abstract pieces, the order in disorder and patterns barely glimpsed from the corner of the eye.

You won’t find much of his work in the galleries, he compares most of them to commercial music - interior decorating stuff.

Marlborough’s only ‘plein air’ painter, Brian Badcock, learned the art form from his father, Douglas Badcock who was also a prolific and well-known painter.

Badcock’s current exhibition at Brian Badcock Gallery are dominated by his ‘‘plein air’’ works.

‘‘Plein air’’, French for ‘‘open air’’, is a term used for painting done in the open air instead of in the studio.

The former intermediate school art teacher travels all over Marlborough and New Zealand to find the inspiration for his landscapes.

‘‘I load the truck up and it’s just me and my dog,’’ Badcock said. ‘‘I spend a lot of time out there. In the winter I can be out every day. ‘‘It’s an amazing experience.’’ A painting takes about 4 or 5 hours, or around 35 years, depending on your perspective.

He said creating a work of art was more than purely the mechanics of producing something.

‘‘I load the truck up and it's just me and my dog’’

‘‘People think it’s about pictures,’’ Badcock said, ‘‘it’s more like music.

‘‘You’re borrowing stuff from the landscape and putting down something unique.

He said people often had plans to paint from pictures they had taken around the country, but painting had nothing to do with photos.

‘‘It’s the experience, it’s being there,’’ he said.

The key thing to a painting, or any art form, according to Badcock was that it needed to communicate.

‘‘I want to create something edifying, that makes you feel good,’’ he said.

‘‘There’s enough negativity in the world.’’

Badcock, a devout Christian, said the Lord had done amazing things and ‘‘taught him so much’’ while he was painting.

‘‘For me, the joy of painting comes from a delight in the creation and a connection with the creator,’’ he said.

‘‘As you develop as a painter you begin to understand more about yourself.’’

It wasn’t about the money or fame for Badcock. Any money from the sale of his paintings went to India, to build churches.

‘‘It’s providing something that will encourage people, lift them.’’

ELENA MCPHEE Brian Badcock Brian Badcock spends a minimal amount of time in his studio, preferring to be outdoors to capture the feeling and experience of the landscapes he paints.