EXHIBITIONS

ANTHONY BOWLES
Instagram: @anthonykbowles
08 MAY 2024 to 04 AUG 2024 

Anthony has always loved art, drawing veraciously as a child and painting in oils at thirteen. His neighbour, a local French artist, used to take Anthony and his son out painting ‘en plein air’ – outdoors in the style of the famous Heidelberg School of Art. The three would set up easels and spend hours painting around Lilydale and Healesville on weekends. This provided a solid training ground under expert tuition.

Anthony continued to paint but left school at a young age to complete an apprenticeship in hairdressing, leading overseas to work at the prestigious Vidal Sassoon and Molton Brown in London. Anthony has previously owned salons in Melbourne and Cairns and now spends most of his time focussing on his first love, painting.

Antony’s passion shows in his art – from portraits to landscapes. He draws daily, carrying a journal to do quick sketches at a moment’s notice. He often sketches portraits on the train to and from Melbourne, with mixed reactions from his sleepy subjects. He draws landscapes on his travels and locally, such as the Macedon Ranges, which have been featured prominently in his previous works.

Working in both oils and watercolours provides diversity and textural differentiation. The buttery texture of oil is lovely to work with, whilst watercolour is spontaneous and in the moment. However, in both disciplines, for Anthony, it is all about the light and capturing that particular moment in time.

Moving to Woodend with his partner in 2008, Anthony completed both a Diploma of Visual Art and an Advanced Diploma, leading to several solo exhibitions, including two at Yering Station in the Yarra Valley and Bress Winery at Harcourt.

With a historical link between the artist and the owner of Life’s Too Short – great-grandniece of Yering station’s founder Paul de Castella and great-granddaughter of Charles Hubert de Castella, founder of the Heidelberg School of Art –their paths were destined to cross at some point. And so, at a random wine dinner, the concept for “La Dolce Vita” was born – a collection of varied Italian landscapes, intimate interiors of Palazzi, and private balconies in Venice and beyond.

We invite you to stop for a moment and enjoy the exhibition over a glass or two of Italian wine and live La Dolce Vita!