Mildura Artist · Painting & Drawing
Original paintings and drawings by Mildura artist Colin Rowe, each one with a story worth owning.
For over five decades Colin Rowe has painted and drawn the landscapes, faces and ideas around him, from the deserts of the Mallee to a portrait entered for the Archibald Prize. Every original comes with its own signed certificate of provenance, so the story travels with the work.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
About Colin
Colin Rowe has been painting and drawing since he was sixteen. Born in Hampshire, England, in 1953, he moved to Australia in 1971 and has called Mildura home ever since. He trained at the Preston Institute of Technology in 1977 under David Tolley, Dom De Clario, Dale Hickey and Peter Booth, and later completed a Bachelor of Education in Art at Melbourne Teachers College.
His work moves between Romantic, Realist, Surreal and Colour Field styles, drawn from the things around him: something noticed on a walk, an object, a half-remembered dream. For Colin, making art has always been irresistible. It's the looking, the listening, and the producing of the work that matters as much as the finished piece.
WHY HIS WORK STANDS OUT
What makes his work different
A documented career, not a hobby
Exhibited from 1991 to 2002 at Mildura Art Gallery, plus Greenhill Galleries (Adelaide, 1996), Gallery 445 (Melbourne, 1997), Swan Hill Art Gallery (2000), and further institutional exhibitions through to 2013.
Held in a public collection
Colin's large portrait of the late Denis Ryan, painted as an entry for the Archibald Prize, is now part of the Mildura Arts Centre's collection.
Recognised locally
The Denis Ryan portrait drew coverage in the local newspaper and positive recognition around Mildura and Sunraysia.
Every original comes with provenance
Each piece ships in a wooden crate with a signed certificate recording the buyer's name, purchase price, date, a photo of the work, the medium, its exhibition history, and a short account of why it was created.
RECOGNITION & PROVENANCE
Recognition & provenance
Colin's portrait of Denis Ryan, the well-known local detective and author of The Unholy Trinity, was entered for the Archibald Prize. While it wasn't selected, it earned local newspaper coverage and has since been donated to the Mildura Arts Centre, where it's displayed on occasion.
Every original work sold also comes with a signed certificate of provenance: a permanent record of the piece that travels with it, including who bought it, when, what it's made of, where it's been shown, and the story behind why it exists. It's the kind of detail collectors ask for and rarely get.
THE STORY BEHIND THE WORK
“Most pieces start long before the paint does: a sketch, an idea returned to and reworked over weeks or months.”
Colin describes the process itself as close to meditative, the looking, the listening, and the slow act of making something out of it. Buyers of his work often say the same thing back to him: that what they wanted to know wasn't just what the piece looked like, but where the idea came from and how long it took to become real.
FROM THE GALLERY
Featured artwork
The Denis Ryan Portrait
Painted as an entry for the 2019 Archibald Prize, this portrait of retired Mildura detective Denis Ryan now hangs in the Mildura Arts Centre's collection.
The Big Desert by Moonlight
An oil painting of a moon-lit sand track through the Mallee scrub, first shown at Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide, in 1996.
The Big Desert Track Drawings
One of thirteen charcoal drawings made walking the sand track between two deserts during Colin's years teaching art in Murrayville, first shown in Mildura Gallery's 1991 "Scrubbings" exhibition.
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
Where do you get your ideas from?
From whatever's around me that fits a certain feeling: something seen on a walk, an object, a half-remembered dream. Sometimes it starts as a sketch long before it becomes a painting.
How long does a piece take to complete?
It varies. Some ideas are worked and reworked over weeks or months before they become a finished piece.
What comes with an original piece?
Every original ships in a wooden crate with a signed certificate of provenance: a record of the buyer, price, date, medium, exhibition history, and the story behind the piece.
How do I find out more about a piece or enquire?
Get in touch through the contact form and we'll help from there.